Mobile Vietnam Veterans Memorial To Go On Display In Oak Forest

OAK FOREST, IL — A 375-foot mobile replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., will return to Oak Forest this fall. The Wall That Heals will be on display from Oct. 4-7 at 158th Street and Lorel Avenue, according to the Oak Forest Veterans Commission, which is sponsoring the event.

"This mobile replica really is about taking the names home to communities large or small, to allow people to have the same kind of healing experience to come and show their respect, to remember those 58,000 whose names are on the wall, as well as the 2.7 million Vietnam veterans who served, who returned home," said the president and CEO of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, the nonprofit organization that built the D.C. memorial in 1982 and the mobile replica in 1996. "It's a chance to look back and pay their respects to those who answered the call of service to their country, especially those who made the ultimate sacrifice."

The Wall That Heals was last in the city in 2008. The Moving Wall, an earlier traveling memorial, was in Orland Park in 2015.

RELATED: Vietnam Moving Wall Returns to Orland Park

Before the wall goes on display, about 140 volunteers will be needed to handle a variety of duties, Oak Forest Veterans Commission Chairman Joe Pilch told the Daily Southtown. Crews will need to help set up and pull down the wall, and other volunteers will work in shifts around-the-clock as guides for the monument, the report added.

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Although the display dates are secured, the commission is still working out details involving other possible activities surrounding the event, Pilch told the Southtown. Area lawmakers will be invited to see the wall, and a ceremony that could include a gun salute and wreath presentation is scheduled for 10 a.m. Oct. 6, he said.

Anyone interested in volunteering for The Wall That Heals display can contact the Oak Forest Veterans Commission at 708-473-2609 or ofveteranscomm@oak-forest.org.

More via the Daily Southtown

The Wall That Heals: The Basics

When: Oct. 4-7

Where: 158 Street and Lorel Avenue

More Information: Go to the city's website or the Oak Forest Veterans Commission's Facebook page for details.

The Wall That Heals, a 375-foot mobile replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. (Screen shot from video via Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund | YouTube)