McKeesport volunteers build The Wall That Heals

By JEFF STITT
jstitt@yourmvi.com
About 30 volunteers from the Mon Valley, members of several area labor unions and the McKeesport High School Tigers football team were hard at work in McKeesport’s Renziehausen Park Wednesday as they constructed and prepped The Wall That Heals for an opening ceremony 6:30 p.m. today.
The Wall, which was hauled into the city Tuesday by The Truckload Carriers Association, a fleet of more than 200 motorcyclists and a cast of local emergency response vehicles, lists more than 58,000 names of Americans who either died, were prisoners of war, or are considered missing in action as a result of the Vietnam War.
Retired U.S. Marine Corps Gunnery Sgt. Jay West of McKeesport, who served from 1971 to 1993, was among those helping construct the monument. He was able to carry Panel 10E with his brother, Tom West, a retired McKeesport police officer. The panel contains the name of their brother, U.S. Marine Pfc. James E. West, who was killed in action Sept. 10, 1966, in the Quang Tri Province.
“I always tell people it’s a hard feeling to describe. You never get over (the loss). You just learn how to adapt. If you forget about it, they won’t be remembered,” he said. “Our brother will never be forgotten. “With that panel, we’re able to talk to him while we were walking and hold him again.”
McKeesport Area senior Devin Sims, a safety and running back for the Tigers football team, said constructing The Wall made him proud.
“It touches home because my grandfather served in Vietnam, and I’m proud to do something to honor those who served,” he said. “What we are doing today is what McKeesport is about. We aren’t just football players. We aren’t the negative things people see on the news. We are people who come together and people who care about our community.”
The exhibit the volunteers constructed features a three-quarter scale, 375-foot-long replica of the memorial in Washington, D.C. The replica stands seven and a half feet high at its tallest point.
Like the original memorial, The Wall That Heals is erected in a chevron-shape that comes to an apex. Visitors can create name rubbings of individual service member’s names on it. It is constructed of avonite, a synthetic granite and its 140 numbered panels are supported by an aluminum frame.
Mayor Michael Cherepko expressed his gratitude to the volunteers.
“I am very appreciative of all the volunteers who came out today,” he said. “I’m very impressed with Tigers Coach Matt Miller and the near-20 players who came down to join in this process. It speaks volumes for what Coach Miller is doing for these young men on and off the field.”
More than 30 area volunteers will continue to assist Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund staff each day. They will be asked to guard The Wall for security purposes, but will also be there to lend support to grieving families, escort guests to The Wall and to help them rub names off of The Wall using graphite and a piece of paper.
Finding a name
The names on The Wall are listed by date of casualty. Beginning at the center apex, the names start on the East Wall (right-hand side) working their way out to the end of that wing, picking up again at the far end of the West Wall (left-hand side) and working their way back into the center apex, joining the beginning and end of the conflict at the center.
Among the names on the memorial are at least 23 men from McKeesport who died during the war. There are also around 150 names of individuals who hailed from the Mon Valley whom died, were prisoners or are missing in action as a result of the war. It also features approximately 900 names western Pennsylvanians who served in the war.
Visitors who struggle with finding a name can visit the on-site mobile education center, a 53-foot trailer that carries The Wall.
Displays at the center include:
• “Hometown Heroes,” which features photos of service members on The Wall who list their home of record from the local area. The photos are part of the effort to put a face to every name on The Wall and for the Wall of Faces.
• A map of Vietnam
• The “In Memory Honor Roll,” which features photos of local Vietnam veterans honored through VVMF’s “In Memory” program, which honors veterans who returned home and later died of Vietnam-related illnesses.
• A display of items representative of those left at The Wall in Washington, D.C. in remembrance of those on The Wall.
• A digital kiosk allows visitors to search for names using VVMF’s Wall of Faces.
• Two paper directories allow for names and their location on The Wall to be found alphabetically.
• The Gold Star Bike, which was donated to VVMF by the American Gold Star Mothers in 2012.The bike is a Softail Custom Harley Davidson that pays tribute to the mothers who lost sons to the Vietnam War.
• The exterior of the trailer features a timeline of “The War and The Wall” and provides additional information about the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. Additional artifact exhibits give visitors a better understanding of the legacy of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the collection of items left at The Wall.