Dozens of volunteers spent Tuesday morning assembling “The Wall That Heals” with the help of Vietnam veterans and family and friends of fallen soldiers depicted on the wall.
Hawaiian Electric’s large American flag and the three-quarter-scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial greeted drivers on Kamehameha Avenue in Hilo.
The Wall That Heals is on display in Hawaii for the very first time after traveling to nearly 700 communities throughout the U.S. since the replica was unveiled in 1996.
Volunteers constructed the structure of the wall at Russell Carroll Mo‘oheau County Park before veterans, family members and friends were invited to escort the panels that are placed on the memorial.
The panels depict the names of the 58,281 Americans who lost their lives during the Vietnam War, and 278 of the names have Hawaii listed as their home of record.
U.S. Marine Corps and Vietnam veteran Billy Fields traveled from Kailua-Kona on Monday and Tuesday to be part of the arrival of The Wall That Heals.
“I came during the parade, and I got choked up watching the truck drive into town. This is a real honor for us,” Fields said. “I am escorting the panels that have a high school buddy’s name and another guy, a Medal of Honor recipient, whose family could not make it here.”
Vietnam veteran Jim Traxler also traveled from Kona to make sure he honored his best friend, a helicopter pilot who died during the Vietnam War.
“We were very close, close to the point that my wife and I are his son’s godparents,” Traxler said. “Tragically, he passed piloting a helicopter before his son was born. I’m here for him and his family today.”
Vietnam veteran Jim Echle escorted three panels for three classmates who lost their lives before Echle was even shipped out to the war. He has visited the full-scale memorial in Washington, D.C., but is glad that more residents have the opportunity to honor fallen soldiers.
“I’m lucky to have been to the D.C. memorial three times, so I think it’s so great that people who haven’t been able to visit can see it in a big way,” Echle said. “I love that it came here to Hilo to give outer island residents the chance to see something that you would normally expect to go to Oahu.”
U.S. Navy veteran Harry Pasco helped coordinate the arrival of The Wall That Heals from his home in Kohala and came to the assembly to see his fellow veterans and to honor fallen classmates and friends.
“I came to pay respects to my friends and my classmates that lost their lives in Vietnam,” Pasco said. “I’m also escorting panels for the families that could not make it today. It’s nice to see it come together.”
With careful coordination, the wall was assembled in a few hours under the sunny, clear sky with Maunakea in view.
Ben Fuata, an Army veteran and an active member of Veterans of Foreign Wars Hawaii, helped organize the logistics of the wall’s arrival and coordinated the volunteers, veterans, family and friends who put the panels together throughout the day.
“I am very ecstatic about how well it’s going. I think for anybody, this wall brings people together, and you can feel the spirit,” Fuata said. “I am honored to be a part of it. As a Desert Storm veteran, I owe a debt of gratitude to my brothers and sisters who came before me.”
Fuata has found that honoring Vietnam veterans — living and dead — is even more important since they were not honored properly when they came home after wartime.
“We don’t want to make the same mistake, where the men and women coming home were disrespected and not welcomed. What people forgot about was the 58,281 names that sacrificed their lives,” Fuata said. “Those who did come back faced a different enemy with the public outcry and what we used to call ‘shell shock,’ but now know as PTSD. How do you heal that?”
While Fuata doesn’t think the memorial fixes wrongdoings of the past, he hopes that this display will bring honor to those who gave their lives and remind the community about the men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice.
“We all owe a debt of gratitude because they paved the way, and we got to feel like heroes,” Fuata said. “Maybe we can’t rewrite the wrong, but we can at least make the memory more tolerable. We can thank them for the sacrifice of their lives, but more importantly, welcome them home.”
After a brief opening ceremony today at 9 a.m., The Wall That Heals, along with the Mobile Education Center, will be on continuous display for the public until a Celebration of Life and Farewell Ceremony at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
All ceremonies will take place at the wall, located at Mo‘oheau park off Kamehameha Avenue.
Educational tours will be available from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. today through Saturday; and from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday. Taps will be played today through Saturday at sunset and at 2 p.m. during the Farewell Ceremony.
All veterans who were impacted by exposure to Agent Orange during Vietnam War will be commemorated with a remembrance ceremony at 6 p.m. Thursday.
A Welcome Home Ceremony will honor the Vietnam veterans who died in defense of their country at 11 a.m. on Saturday. The Hawaii County Band will play a 1960s rock tribute beforehand at 10:30 a.m.
The closing ceremony will honor prisoners of war and those missing in action while celebrating the veterans living today.
Hawaii County is offering shuttle service to The Wall That Heals for seniors and veterans from the West Hawaii Civic Center, the Lily Yoshimatsu Senior Center in Waimea, the Ka‘u Community Center and the Pahoa Senior Center.
The shuttle space is limited, so call (808) 323-4320 or (808) 961-8777 to sign up. Shuttles will depart each location at 8 a.m.
To sign up for an educational tour, visit tinyurl.com/yckh4v9v. For more information about The Wall That Heals, visit thewallthatheals-hawaiicounty.org/.
Emaiil Kelsey Walling at kwalling@hawaiitribune-herald.com.