A traveling exhibit of a replica of the Vietnam Memorial Wall is in Mobile AL this week. I took the boys to see it this morning at the Convention Center downtown. It will be here until Wednesday. 

The exhibit hall was somber except for the couple chatting about old times with one of the Veterans and having their picture taken in front of the wall. Low to the ground and long, the 3/5-scale memorial was done well. We walked the length, read some of the names and commented on how many people died in that war. There were additional banners displayed at the opposite end of the wall describing the numbers of missing in action and estimated other missing from Alabama and Florida.

I’ve seen the wall in Washington, D.C. and it’s overwhelming. Large, black marble and covered in thousands of names etched into it, you’ll always find flowers, flags, photographs along the base. Relatives and friends of the deceased are allowed to do rubbings of their loved-one’s name. Here, too, we saw several placed flags, flowers and a photograph and witnessed a visitor taking a rubbing for a memento.
If you haven’t seen the real wall in Washington, D.C. and don’t know if you ever will get up there, do stop by this exhibit. It’s here, free of charge, through Wednesday and then moving on to Ohio. Click here for the remaining schedule.

If you go to see the wall and have a relative that died in the war, you’ll find a staffed table at the entrance and someone can help you find the panel and line which holds that person’s name.  The visit is highly recommended.