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Downtown Wadsworth to show replica May 30
By Marilyn Miller
Beacon Journal
Published on Wednesday, May 14, 2008
WADSWORTH: The Wall That Heals, a replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., will be on display in downtown Wadsworth from May 30 to June 2.
The city will be the only place in Ohio to host the touring display this year.
''This wall is said to have the same impact on people as the memorial in D.C.,'' said Jack Ollom, executive director of Downtown Wadsworth Inc. ''It's half the size of the memorial in D.C., one-sided and 256 feet long and 60 feet wide.''
It will be set up on the downtown square, and streets in the area will be closed to traffic while it is on display. Concrete barriers will be in place by 10:30 a.m. May 30, in time for the opening ceremony.
Closed will be College Street from Pardee Street to High Street, Broad Street from Lyman Street to High, High from King Street to Broad and Main Street from Mills Street to Broad. City parking lots will remain open except for the one behind Thurber's Jewelers on High Street.
The Wall will be brought to town on a 48-foot trailer, Ollom said. It will get a motorcycle escort from the American Legion Riders and the Rolling Thunder motorcycle clubs.
The trailer then will be converted into a museum about the Vietnam War. Hooked up to the trailer will be a tent with computers on which visitors can locate names on The Wall replica.
The memorial has 58,256 names — 3,095 from Ohio — of Americans who were killed in the war.
The display is expected to draw 30,000 to 60,000 people to downtown Wadsworth.
''It's a 24-hour event,'' Wadsworth Safety Director Matt Hiscock said. ''People can visit at any time.
''It is treated as a solemn event, not a festival environment. The city will provide security from its police department, and the Ohio Reserve National Guard will provide additional security.''
Free memorial books will be handed out to visitors.
The Wall replica was last in the area on Sept. 28, 2006, when it was displayed at Lake Anna Park in Barberton.
Bringing the touring exhibit to town is a lengthy process.
''We started last year, at least eight months ago,'' Ollom said. ''The last mayor and last safety director approved the original permit.''
The American Legion Post 170, Downtown Wadsworth Inc., the Wadsworth VFW, Wadsworth City Schools, the city of Wadsworth and the O'Neil Group, a Wadsworth-based insurance company, worked together to bring The Wall replica to Wadsworth at a total cost of about $8,000.
Ollom said that money covers the transportation of the display, including the truck driver's fee; paying the two staff members who come with the wall to help set it up; utilization of the museum and the computers for accessing names.
Jan Scruggs of Maryland, who served in Vietnam as an infantry corporal from 1969 to 1970, is founder of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund. He came up with the idea for the Washington memorial to recognize all those who had served in the Vietnam War.
He will be part of the memorial event, speaking on May 28 to students at Central Intermediate School during the day and then to the public at 7 p.m. at the O.J. Work Auditorium, 151 S. Main St. There is no admission charge to his speech.
The Friends of the Wadsworth Library are bringing Scruggs to Wadsworth, also at a cost of $8,000.
Janet Griffing, of the library group, said she was thrilled when Scruggs agreed to speak.
''We are tickled to death to be involved with the project,'' she said, ''and Scruggs is definitely the right person to add to the event.''
Scruggs is the author of To Heal a Nation, a film that was made into a movie starring Eric Roberts. That movie will be shown at 7 p.m. May 27 at the Wadsworth Library, 132 Broad St., also at no charge to the public.
During the display of The Wall replica, first aid tents will be set up and military chaplains will be on hand.
''Wadsworth alone has 13 names on The Wall — 12 were KIAs [killed in action] and one MIA [missing in action],'' Ollom said. There were ''33 from Medina County. We have paid more of our share.''
He said the exhibit organizers are considering having every name on The Wall read on the local cable TV channel.
''We figure it will take a second to read the names,'' Ollom said, ''and we will use 100 volunteers, so it will take about 161/2 hours of broadcast time to do all the names — all 58,256.''
Marilyn Miller can be reached at 330-996-3098 or mmiller@thebeaconjournal.com.
WADSWORTH: The Wall That Heals, a replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., will be on display in downtown Wadsworth from May 30 to June 2.
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