The Wall That Heals arrived in Tama on Tuesday after its journey from the Iowa Veterans Home in Marshalltown. It was escorted by over 200 motorcycles alongside local county and state law enforcement agencies. The Wall honors over three million Americans who served in the U.S. Armed Forces during the Vietnam War, bearing the names of 58,281 individuals who lost their lives in Vietnam.

The Wall That Heals is a program created by the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund (VVMF). It’s a mobile exhibit, a three-quarter scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C. The Wall stretches 375 feet in length with a height of 7.5 feet. It’s able to tour around the country thanks to sponsorship from the USAA in partnership with Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) and Blue Beacon. Since its first journ in 1996, the exhibit has been displayed in nearly 700 communities in the U.S. with a visiting tour of the Four Provinces of Ireland in April 1999 and to Canada in 2005.

The Wall That Heals is open 24 hours a day and is free to the public from Aug. 4-7 at the Meskwaki Settlement School, providing an opportunity for the Tama community to honor and remember those who served and sacrificed in the Vietnam War. Visitors are allowed to do name rubbings of service member’s names on The Wall and view the exhibit which features a replica of the In-Memory plaque, a map of Vietnam with a chronological overview of the Vietnam Ware along with digital photo displays of “Hometown Heroes” and videos teaching the history and impact of The Wall.