Valley to salute The Wall That Heals
The Wall That Heals will arrive in Warren on Tuesday afternoon and organizers are hoping it will be greeted with a lot of fanfare and patriotism as it makes its journey — with a motorcycle escort — from Quaker Steak & Lube on Patriot Boulevard in Austintown to Packard Park.
The Wall That Heals, which was last in Warren in August 2018, is a traveling replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. Warren is the only city in Ohio hosting the wall this year.
The Wall That Heals contains the names of 58,281 military personnel who were killed in action during the Vietnam War or listed as missing. Of those killed in action, 103 were from Mahoning County and 61 were from Trumbull County.
The escort will line up at 1 p.m. and leave Austintown at 2 p.m. It will travel Interstate 80 East to state Route 11 North to state Route 82 West and get off the East Market Street exit. It should arrive in Warren around 3 p.m., where it will be escorted down East Market Street and past the Trumbull County Veterans Resource Center to Mahoning Avenue NW, where it will go past the war memorial in Courthouse Square and head to its final destination on the south lawn of Packard Music Hall.
Residents are encouraged to line the route along East Market Street and Mahoning Avenue NW, as well as attend the escort sendoff in Austintown, preferably by wearing patriotic attire and waving flags. The Ohio State Highway Patrol is asking that people not line up along the freeway for safety reasons.
Here is the schedule of events:
• Wednesday — Setup during the day and playing of evening taps at 8:45 p.m. The wall then will be open 24 hours a day until it leaves June 1.
• Thursday — Opening Day, with a welcome home ceremony at 6 p.m. and playing of taps at 8:46 p.m. The Veterans Resource Center will be open at the Packard Park Shelter House 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. The resource center will house information about veterans resources and will contain exhibits.
• Friday — Family Day, with children’s activities noon to 3 p.m. The Veterans Resource Center will be open at the Packard Park Shelter House 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. The Nightingale Service honoring the eight women nurses on The Wall That Heals will take place at 6 p.m. and taps will be played at 8:47 p.m.
• May 31 — Tribute Day, with a 2 p.m. Medal of Honor ceremony for those who died in Vietnam. The Resource Center will be open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and taps will be played at 8:48 p.m.
• June 1 — Closing Day, with a closing ceremony at 1:45 p.m.