By COLE REIF
Great Bend Post
GREAT BEND — In late November, it was announced the Vietnam Veterans Memorial replica
is coming to Great Bend in May. The three-quarter replica from the memorial
in Washington D.C. travels across the country to give citizens a chance to view
the memorial that may not be able to travel to Washington.
Larry Parsons, a Vietnam veteran himself, was the Chairperson for the Great Bend
Leadership Committee that helped bring the traveling memorial to Great Bend.
Parsons said one of the exciting parts of bringing the “The Wall That Heals” to
town is the opportunity to educate the younger children about the Vietnam War.
"A
big thing I wanted to do was bring some hands-on education for our
school kids, and that's why I didn't want it during the summer," said
Parsons. "I wanted it when school was on so teachers could maybe bring a
field trip and walk through it."
Along with the memorial, a mobile education center travels along too. A tour
guide can tell anyone about the history of the war and the impact of the
Vietnam era.
Standing 7.5 feet high, the wall replica is 375 feet long and bears the names
of the more than 58,000 American men and women who died during the war.
"Another big goal of mine is to bring some closure for people," said
Parsons. "Maybe this will ease some of the pain. We have a couple of
families in town that lost soldiers in the war."
The memorial will be positioned at Veterans Memorial Park in Great Bend May 11 - May 14 and is free to the public.