Putnam County preparing to host The Wall That Heals at the new fairgrounds later this month to honor Vietnam veterans and their families.
Mayor Randy Porter said the mobile exhibit will be open 24 hours a day and requires volunteers to assist visitors during overnight and early morning shifts. The county is seeking individuals to help elderly or handicapped attendees move from their vehicles to the wall and answer questions about the accompanying museum trailer.
“We’re looking at having some volunteers to be able to if we have some elderly folks or handicapped to help them get from their vehicles up to the wall, to be able to answer questions about the wall or the museum trailer that will be there, and just basically to have folks there just in just to watch and make sure everything’s going smoothly and help anybody that needs a little help or assistance,” Porter said.
Porter said groups or individuals interested in volunteering can register through the county website by selecting specific days and times for shifts. Porter said a link at the bottom of the page allows users to submit contact information so organizers can coordinate the schedule.
The exhibition will arrive on Tuesday, October 21, with a motorcycle escort traveling down Spring Street starting at Avery Trace School. Porter said the procession will pass the courthouse lawn and continue through town before turning onto Tennessee Avenue to reach the fairgrounds between 12:00 and 12:30 p.m.
“Yeah, that’s going to be a great time to watch the wall come in,” Porter said. “They can line up anywhere from Avery Trace School on East Spring Street, it will start there, it will come down through the middle of town on Spring Street.”
The 2018 visit to Cookeville set a state record for attendance with over 30,000 visitors. Porter said the new location offers easier parking and interstate access, which officials hope will attract people from across the Upper Cumberland and neighboring states.
“Back when we did it in 2018, we had we set a record for the State of Tennessee, we had more visitors here than any other place that had had it in Tennessee,” Porter said. “So our goal is to break that record this year.”
The wall features the names of nine Putnam County citizens who died during the Vietnam War. Porter said the local service members listed on the panels are Wayman Clay Elrod, James Farley, Augusto Garcia, Carl Gilbert, Jerry Hickey, James C.R. Lewis, Calvin Norris, Bobby Polk, and Johnny Wright Jr.
“It’s very special for me and for a lot of our local folks here,” Porter said. “My dad was a Vietnam vet and passed away when I was very young, about three or four years old. And so when I got into office, my big thing has been to make sure that we do everything we can for Vietnam vets. They didn’t get a warm reception like most of our veterans got after the Vietnam War and we’ve tried to make up for that all these years.”
Porter said bringing the exhibit to the community provides a necessary opportunity for those who cannot travel to the permanent memorial in Washington, D.C.
“I heard that the last time we had it, folks came and to be able to go and see names of their friends or other soldiers that they were in the war with on the wall just a just an emotional time for for those folks,” Porter said. “So we’re trying to make it as easy as possible for veterans, their families that can’t go to Washington to bring it here so that they can see it here.”
