Vietnam War Memorial Copy Coming To Area

A replica of one of the nation’s most powerful war memorials will come to Spokane and a Garfield-area site this spring.

A traveling version of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall will be in Spokane May 28-31 and a yet-to-be determined location in the Garfield area June 3-8.

The replica is a half-size version of the black granite memorial dedicated in 1982 in Washington, D.C. The memorial, inscribed with the names of 58,209 men and women who died or are missing from the war, is one of the most visited sites in the nation’s capital.

When the replica - called The Wall that Heals - was on display in Omaha, Neb., it drew 75,000 people, said Tim Welsh, co-chairman of Spokane Veterans in Support of the Wall.

“Our goal is to have 50,000 to 75,000 people visit,” said Welsh, who is a Vietnam veteran and owner of Garco Construction.

The replica will be on display outside the Spokane Arena on Mallon.

Organizers plan to offer around-the-clock security, counseling services for veterans and attendants to help visitors find names on the wall.

“There are a lot of veterans who will never have the opportunity or inclination to go to D.C.,” Welsh said. “This gives them an opportunity to see a replica. I think it should be a very healing and beneficial thing.”

Bringing the replica to Spokane was the brainchild of Alan Solinsky, a federal probation officer from Spokane who has visited the original twice.

“You kind of think you’re going to be a tough guy when you go,” Solinsky said.

But instead “it’s a very emotional, very draining experience, but a very rewarding one, too,” said Solinsky, who was shot in the chest in Vietnam.

In Spokane and Garfield, wall organizers are looking for volunteers and donations.

Bringing the wall to a community costs $3,500 up front. The Spokane group is hoping to raise $20,000 to $25,000 to take care of publicity and other costs. Any donated money not spent will be given to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, which gives scholarships to the children of Vietnam veterans.

In Garfield, Greg Partch is financing the initial costs of the wall with a $5,000 award he won from the National Association of Towns and Townships. Partch is a town councilman.

“We will have to get by for $7,500 or something like that,” Partch said.

Though a final site has not been selected for the wall in the Garfield area, the town of 600 is likely to be one of the smallest communities in America to host the memorial.

Partch needs money and volunteers for the project. Anyone wishing to help can call (509) 635-1556.

“It is a big, big undertaking. We already have 30 standing committees,” said Partch, a customer service representative at Arrow Machinery north of Colfax. “It’s getting a little bit over my head. I do need lots of help.”

Spokane wall organizers are looking for 225 to 275 volunteers. At least 125 of those would have the exclusive job of reading the names on the wall in remembrance. To read all the names will be a 24-hour, four-day job, said Phil White, who is coordinating volunteers for the wall’s visit to Spokane.

It comes out to 606 names per hour, White said.

Anyone wishing to volunteer to read names, or for other jobs, can call White at 324-7074.

, DataTimes