On any given day, the Veterans Memorial Museum in Chehalis offers a potent and moving display reflecting the sacrifices and contributions of several generations of military veterans.
Beginning Thursday, the museum will focus in on one turbulent, controversial and long-lasting military campaign that resulted in the deaths and injuries of thousands of citizens.
The Vietnam Traveling Wall will arrive this week. It will be on display at the museum from noon Thursday until 3 p.m. Sunday. The wall is an 80 percent replica of the Washington, D.C., version. It’s 370 feet long and includes the names of 58,000 who died in Vietnam.
More than 10,000 people gazed at the wall during its last visit to Lewis County in 2007. This year is special in that it marks 50 years since the beginning of combat in the South Asian country.
Museum leaders requested the wall two years ago, and volunteers and organizers have been working hard to make way for the massive tribute to fallen veterans.
Unpaid workers have spent thousands of hours preparing for this week, and will spend many more parking cars, giving tours and assisting the throngs of visitors who are expected to arrive.
We thank these volunteers for their time, but our appreciation is even more fervently directed toward the lives that today are remembered by the etchings on a wall aimed at showing support for an era of military veterans who received little respect 50 years ago.
This week marks an opportunity for all of us to solemnly remember the sacrifices that were misunderstood in their own time.
Like any generation, this one will eventually pass away. We’ve seen it with World War I and World War II, and it won’t be long before a wall is all we have left of the young men and women who responded to the nation’s call despite protests at home.
“This is a generation that is beginning to pass away. This is the time to thank them before they are all gone. A generation is slowly going away, unfortunately,” said Chip Duncan, executive director for the museum.
Look for more details on the visit on the front page of today’s edition.
If you happen to be on Interstate 5 Wednesday afternoon, you may see the massive monument being transported to the museum.
Don’t be satisfied with that, though. Make plans to visit the Veterans Memorial Museum Thursday, Friday, Saturday or Sunday to take advantage of an opportunity to pay respect and honor those who have earned it and deserve it.
Learn more about the museum at veteransmuseum.org.
