The Moving Wall, Traveling Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Comes to Savannah, Tennessee

SAVANNAH, Tenn. – The Moving Wall, the nation’s traveling Vietnam Veterans Memorial, will be on display 24 hours a day noon Sept. 7 through 4 p.m. Sept. 11 inside the Tennessee Street Park grounds in downtown Savannah.

The opening day ceremony will be 4 p.m. Sept. 7. Hardin County will honor Vietnam Veterans who gave their lives.  Their families will be recognized for their sacrifices. 

The City of Savannah will run the city trolley free of charge 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sept. 9 for those visiting the park and the downtown area. Trolley stops are at Tennessee Street Park, the Savannah Veterans’ Park and the Tennessee River Museum.

This honored visit is sponsored by the Colonel Joseph Hardin Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

In 1982 John Devitt, a former helicopter door gunner and Army veteran, visited Washington, DC for the dedication of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and to participate in the National Salute to Vietnam Veterans. This visit and experience changed Devitt's life and led to the creation of the "Moving Wall," which has since moved millions of people.

Devitt, founder and chairman of The Moving Wall and the Vietnam Combat Veterans, Ltd., wanted to capture the spirit he felt at the Washington, D.C. memorial and share it with people who couldn’t travel there to see the monument.

In 1983, he and some friends spent 22 months and about $28,000 in donations to build his original Plexiglas replica of the memorial. The replica wall is half the size of the Washington, D.C. Vietnam Veterans Memorial and measures 253 feet in length. The replica is now constructed of aluminum with 58,272 names of the Americans dead (including 1,200 MIAs, POWs, and others) in Vietnam silk-screened upon black panels. The replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial cost approximately $60,000 in donations.

There will be no admission fee charged to visit The Moving Wall. The main park entrance will remain open each day after normal park hours. Volunteer security staff will be on site each night.

Those who want to be a volunteer for this event should contact Fay Lindberg at 731-698-3997.

For more information on the event schedule, contact Hardin County CVB at 731-925-8181.

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