| Originally, they called it the Vietnam Veterans Memorial | | | | Lockyear, conceived the idea of a memorial forest. |
| (Mobile). It is now known as the Moving Wall: A | | | | The North Carolina Vietnam Veterans Highway |
| portable, half-size replica of the original Wall. The | | | | Memorial also uses living trees to honor those who lost |
| traveling version was first displayed in Texas in 1984, | | | | their lives in Vietnam. Dedicated on Memorial Day 1991, |
| and since then, it has made stops in more than 200 | | | | the memorial features 58,000 loblolly pines that were |
| cities across the country. There are also at least two | | | | planted along a 12-mile stretch of Interstate 85 in |
| state moving walls in Alabama and Ohio. | | | | Davidson County, between Lexington and Greensboro. |
| The original Moving Wall was built in 1983 by three | | | | The trees also encircle the highway memorial's |
| California Vietnam veterans-John Devitt, Gerry Haver, | | | | centerpiece, a brick wall nearly one hundred feet long |
| and Morris Shears. "I wanted everyone to see those | | | | and eight feet high. Each of the wall's 1,600 bricks is |
| names on the wall," said Devitt, a former First Cav | | | | engraved with the name of a North Carolinian who |
| helicopter door gunner who now spends his time | | | | died in Vietnam. |
| transporting the Moving Wall around the nation. | | | | The Tar Heel State also has a more traditional |
| Devitt and company secured permission from the | | | | Vietnam veterans memorial in Raleigh, the state capital. |
| Vietnam Veterans Memorial Foundation in Washington | | | | Dedicated on Memorial Day 1987, it consists of a large, |
| to construct their wall using the original blueprints. For | | | | bronze sculpture of two combat infantrymen carrying |
| portability purposes, the wall is built of aluminum. But its | | | | a wounded buddy and bronze plaques dedicated to |
| shiny enamel paint and raised letters closely emulate | | | | the state's Vietnam veterans. |
| the original. "It was important that the letters be raised," | | | | Several other states have used roads to honor |
| Devitt said. "It gives people the opportunity to touch the | | | | Vietnam veterans. Delaware's I-495, for example, is |
| names, to feel the names." | | | | officially known as the Vietnam Veterans Memorial |
| The Moving Wall generates the same types of | | | | Highway, and Vermont's I-89 shares the same name. |
| response that the original wall does. Thousands come | | | | On October 20, 1982, Vermont officials dedicated a |
| to pay their respects, and dozens of volunteers stand | | | | 12-foot-high granite monument in an I-89 rest area near |
| guard to help visitors locate names. Many leave | | | | the town of Sharon. The memorial lists the names of |
| mementos at the Moving Wall, all of which are | | | | the 138 Vermont men killed in the war. |
| collected and stored in a California warehouse. | | | | During the war, on May 31, 1969, local officials in |
| Although Devitt and company built a replica a couple | | | | Evansville, Indiana, and in Henderson, Kentucky, |
| of years ago, the wall's itinerary is booked solid. For | | | | renamed the twin bridges that connect their cities to |
| information, write to: Vietnam Combat Veterans, Inc., | | | | honor those killed in the war. The spans are officially |
| Attn: Memorial Fund, 1267 Alma Ct., San Jose, CA | | | | called the Bi-state Vietnam Gold Star Memorial |
| 95112. | | | | Bridges. |
| Like the original Wall and the traveling replica, nearly all | | | | On May 30,1993, Baltimore mayor Kurt Schmoke cut a |
| state and local memorials honor Vietnam veterans by | | | | ribbon and officially renamed the city's heavily traveled |
| listing the names of those killed and missing and by | | | | Hanover Street Bridge the Vietnam Veterans |
| representing their service with words or statues. But | | | | Memorial Bridge. That historic event-the first time in the |
| some memorials are in different forms, for example, | | | | city's long history that a bridge was renamed to honor |
| longtime VVA member Geoffrey Steiner's herculean | | | | an individual or group-was attended by more than |
| effort to plant the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Forest | | | | 2,000 people, including 40 Gold Star mothers, 20 color |
| on a 100-acre parcel of land he owns in Cushing, | | | | guards from a half dozen veterans organizations |
| Minnesota, about 120 miles north of Minneapolis. | | | | (including seven Maryland VVA chapters), an Army |
| Steiner, who did a 1967-68 tour with the Marines, | | | | National Guard band, and reporters from the city's four |
| started on his goal of planting a tree for each | | | | TV stations. The dedication capped months of hard |
| American who died in Vietnam in 1980. He has | | | | work by the members of VVA Chapter 451 in |
| personally planted more than 30,000 trees, and his | | | | Maryland's largest city. |
| once-lonely effort has now been officially recognized | | | | Chapter member Ed Vogel conceived of the idea of |
| by the state of Minnesota. Steiner has received aid | | | | renaming the bridge while it was being renovated in |
| from the fund-raising efforts of several VVA chapters. | | | | 1992. "That way, the bridge could serve as a gateway |
| A member of Chapter 214, Steiner has served as | | | | to the Maryland Vietnam Veterans Memorial," which |
| Minnesota's VVA chaplain. He says he purposely | | | | was dedicated in 1989 across the Patapsco River |
| chose not to work with stone or sculpture. "What | | | | from downtown Baltimore, chapter president John |
| we're trying to do is heal the people," he told a | | | | Averella told The VVA Veteran. Vogel chaired a |
| reporter. "This is a living memorial." | | | | 15-member bridge dedication committee that |
| Since 1989, VVA Chapter 392 in Portland, Oregon, has | | | | convinced the City Council to rename the bridge. The |
| been actively involved in another massive tree-planting | | | | committee raised $9,000 to pay for new highway |
| endeavor-planting 60,000 trees throughout Oregon to | | | | signs, two large brass plaques, and the big |
| memorialize those who died in Vietnam. More than half | | | | dedication-day ceremonies. "From a single idea six |
| the trees-which are being donated by the state | | | | months earlier, to an event that we will remember for |
| Department of Forestry-are in place. Chapter 392's | | | | a lifetime, all this was made possible by members of |
| partners in the effort are the Lions International of | | | | our chapter and the support of their families," Averella |
| Oregon and ReTree International, a big timber | | | | said. |
| company whose president, octogenarian Frank | | | | |