Veterans traveling wall to come to YSU campus

Staff report

youngstown

The American Veterans Traveling Tribute/Vietnam Traveling Wall is coming to the campus of Youngstown State University from Wednesday through Sunday.

The 360-foot-long wall, an 80-percent scale version of the Vietnam Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C., will be open for viewing round-the-clock in the parking lot on Wood Street at YSU.

Free parking is available in the M3 parking lot on West Rayen Avenue. Handicap parking will be available near the wall on Wood Street.

The event is presented by the YSU Office of Veterans Affairs, with the support and sponsorship of the Mahoning County Veterans Service Commission and The Home Depot of Boardman.

Among the ceremonies planned in conjunction with the Traveling Wall’s presence on campus:

About 4:30 p.m. Wednesday: welcome ceremony.

2 p.m. Thursday: opening ceremony.

8 p.m. Saturday: candlelight vigil.

Noon Sunday: closing ceremony.

In addition, at 10 a.m. Friday, at the site of the Traveling Wall, YSU will have its annual Reading of the Names Ceremony, remembering YSU employees and students who died while on active military duty. YSU’s annual Armed Forces Appreciation Luncheon will follow in the Chestnut Room of Kilcawley Center on the YSU campus.

For information on all events, call the YSU Office of Veterans Affairs at 330-941-2523.

The Traveling Wall was completed in 1998 and began traveling that year. AVTT’s Traveling Wall is the largest wall replica traveling the United States and is not to be confused with several other replica walls — The Moving Wall, The Dignity Wall or the Wall That Heals.

The mission of the AVTT/Vietnam Traveling Wall is to travel the nation to honor, respect and remember men and women who served, and to pay specific tribute to those who gave all in that service. Since the tribute is mobile, it allows people to honor and respect veterans and active military personnel without having to travel great distances to do so.

AVTT is a veterans-owned project. It is not government-sponsored or affiliated, but funded through sponsorship fees, donations and sale of merchandise at events. AVTT is contracted by The Texas Freedom Tribute, an IRS-designated 501 C3, to provide the wall, crew and expertise. Donations or support to AVTT’s mission are qualified charitable tax-deductions. For more information or to schedule an AVTT event, visit www.avtt.org or email Leah@avtt.org.