A traveling replica of the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington,
D.C. will be in Hollister June 29 through July 6.
The monument, which is three-fourths the size of the memorial in
our nation’s capital, includes the names of 58,000 soldiers who
died during the Vietnam War, according to Charlie Scott, commander
of the local branch of the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
A traveling replica of the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C. will be in Hollister June 29 through July 6.
The monument, which is three-fourths the size of the memorial in our nation’s capital, includes the names of 58,000 soldiers who died during the Vietnam War, according to Charlie Scott, commander of the local branch of the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
The local VFW and the Hollister Independence Rally Committee are sponsoring its temporary placement in Hollister. HIRC signed a contract for it Nov. 6, according to Scott.
“We invite all veterans to come out to assist us in manning in for 24 hours around the clock while it’s in town, especially the Vietnam veterans,” Scott said.
It will be located on the lawn of the old Fremont School located at 335 West St. The wall and two other replicas, all about 200 feet long, are circulated throughout the country by a company based in San Jose.
Scott said he is currently negotiating with a separate company to provide light towers, the same ones used for highway construction, for night-time viewing of the wall.
HIRC and the VFW attempted, but failed, to secure a Vietnam War Memorial replica wall for last year’s rally. The wall has not visited Hollister in recent years; he said it was briefly here on the outskirts of town a “long time ago,” but he couldn’t remember the exact date. It most recently reached the region eight years ago when it was placed in Gilroy.
“It’s a very, very good representation of the wall in Washington,” Scott said.
