A traveling Vietnam memorial wall arrived in South Bend today for the first time in more than 20 years.
The Wall That Heals is a slightly smaller version of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C. - but it's meant to equally honor Americans who served in the War.
The Wall bears the names of more than 58,000 people who served in Vietnam. 189 of them are from local towns.
Kathleen Matuszak is the General Manager of St. Joseph Cemetery. She helped bring the memorial to South Bend.
“It’s time that these warriors get the welcome and the honor and the respect they so desperately deserve," She said. "They would do it for us in a minute, they did do it for us, and they didn’t ask for anything in
return.”
Matuszak says it’s also an opportunity for people who can't make it to see the full-size memorial in D.C.
The Wall will be open to the public 24 hours a day starting on Thursday at St. Joseph Cemetery.
It will leave on Sunday, September 22nd to travel to Delaware.
Contact Annacaroline at acaruso@wvpe.org or follow her on Twitter at @AnnacarolineC16
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