Note: This post is part of an ongoing blog series called #costamesa365 where the author is striving to shop only* in her city of Costa Mesa, for a year.
On Thursday, I was meeting up with some friends at Balearic Park, here in Costa Mesa. As I rounded the corner leading up to the Community Center I noticed a giant, temporary wall – along with a big tent and a small crowd of people.
Whoa. What’s up at Balearic?
The park is normally pretty dead on a Thursday afternoon, what with most community events making more sense on the weekends. The biggest crowds tend to be the “after-work, throwing tennis balls to their dogs” people.
I parked and went to check out what the wall was all about.
Turns out, it’s a free, traveling exhibit – called The Wall That Heals – consisting of a three-quarter-scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C., and accompanying mobile information center.
I personally feel a little disconnected from that era in our country’s history. I am too young to remember the Vietnam War. Although my grandfather served in WWII, no one in my family served in Vietnam. I don’t have any personal stories to share.
But as I sat in the shade and chatted with my friends, we were so touched watching veteran after veteran arrive – usually in vests or jackets adorned with military patches. It was a somber walk from the parking lot (near where I was sitting) over to the wall. You could almost see the full weight of the visit grow heavier on the heart as they approched the Memorial… and with good reason.
The wall itself looks like a long, dark scar slashed across the springtime-green grass of Balearic. When you get right up close to the massive, synthetic-granite wall, it finally hits you right between the eyes that each of those tiny, etched words represents an actual human being.
It’s almost overwhelming to spend too much time pouring over the names; which is one way the message of the replica really resonates.
Some visitors were taking “rubbings” off the wall. They would find the name of a loved one, put up a piece of paper against the name, and rub charcoal or a pencil across the surface of the paper. It’s a way to transfer the name – as it appears on the wall – onto paper, so the loved one can take it home.
The mission of The Wall That Heals is right there in its name:
“On Veterans Day 1996, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund (VVMF) unveiled a… replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., designed to travel to communities throughout the United States. Since its dedication, The Wall That Heals has been displayed at nearly 600 communities throughout the nation, spreading the Memorial’s healing legacy to millions.
Bringing The Wall home to communities throughout our country allows the souls enshrined on the Memorial to exist once more among family and friends in the peace and comfort of familiar surroundings. The traveling exhibit provides thousands of veterans who have been unable to cope with the prospect of facing The Wall to find the strength and courage to do so within their own communities, thus allowing the healing process to begin.”
I feel ill-equipped to write much else about the Vietnam war, our veterans, or what visiting this Memorial at Balearic Park could possible mean to locals whose lives were touched by the events of this period.
But to you, dear Costa Mesans, I would say that however conflicted you may feel about the Vietnam War era, I think it’s worth a visit – even a short one – as a way to honor the humanity of those who gave their lives in service to our country.
The Memorial is open 24-hours a day for the rest of today, through tomorrow afternoon (Sunday, April 14th) when a Closing Ceremony is planned for 2pm.
According to the event website:
“Closing Ceremony will take place at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, April 14, with Sgt. Frank Orzio, USMC, Vietnam Veteran, Purple Heart, as the featured speaker. The event will include a fly-over and the customary playing of “Taps.” The Wall That Heals honors the more than three million Americans who served in the U.S. Armed forces in the Vietnam War and it bears the names of the more than 58,000 men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice in Vietnam.”
It’s a somber reminder that life is fleeting, peace is fragile, and so much of what we enjoy today is only possible thanks to the long-ago sacrifices of others. ♥
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*We will always start by shopping / looking in Costa Mesa, first. But if we really need something and an alternative is nowhere to be found in Costa Mesa, we’ll stray. Also, as parents, we’ve decided that certain kid-related things (mainly educational) will need to remain baked in.
