BATTLE CREEK, Mich. — Piece by piece and name by name, The Wall That Heals is taking shape in Battle Creek, giving Southwest Michigan residents a place to remember and reflect on those who served and died during the Vietnam War.
Volunteers, veterans, service members and students gathered Wednesday at Harper Creek High School's soccer field complex to assemble the traveling three-quarter-scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.
For Vietnam War veteran Joe Cummins, seeing the wall come together is a reminder of those who did not return home.
"Well, I just think about the soldiers that didn't come back," Cummins said. "I made it find myself, but I knew a lot didn't."
Cummins said watching people work together to assemble the memorial also reminds him of the camaraderie he experienced while serving.
"Well, the camaraderie, the people working together to get it done," Cummins said. "We were always like that."
The replica stretches 375 feet and stands 7.5 feet tall at its highest point. It bears the names of the 58,281 men and women honored on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
Col. Frank Walker, chair of The Wall That Heals Steering Committee, said bringing the memorial to Battle Creek is about giving Vietnam veterans the recognition many did not receive when they returned home.
"First of all, we didn't get it right in the 1960s and 1970s," Walker said. "We didn't give the dignity and respect and honor so richly deserved by our military, and so this is a way to welcome them home."
The traveling exhibit also allows people who may be unable to make the trip to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington to experience a version of it closer to home.
For visitors, he hopes the thousands of names etched into the wall are seen as people rather than simply a number.
"It's a father. It's a son. It's a sister. It's a brother. It's a mom, or it's a dad," Walker said. "There's a story behind every single person on that wall. Every 58,281 of them, there's a story."
Those stories are also reaching a generation born decades after the Vietnam War.
Harper Creek High School seniors were among the students helping assemble the memorial Wednesday.
"I'm learning more and more as I go, especially as we're putting these names up and the veterans telling us about certain names and what they did and when they died," Harper Creek senior Landen Sawyer said.
Fellow senior Avery Clark said volunteering has expanded her knowledge of the war.
"I'm definitely learning a lot," Clark said. "Like I feel like I definitely like knew some stuff, but this is like really like expanding what I heard, what I knew."
Cummins said he is proud to see younger people participating and hopes they leave understanding the sacrifice that the veterans have put forth.
The Wall That Heals will be open to the public 24 hours a day at the Harper Creek High School soccer field complex, 7290 B Drive North in Battle Creek, through Sunday, Aug. 23.
Admission and parking are free.
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