A replica of the National Vietnam Memorial in Washington is now on display on Arsenal Island. Through Sunday, "The Wall That Heals," is set up on Memorial Field, and hosted by the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund.
A ceremony was held this morning to open the four-day display, with featured speaker Bill Albracht, a decorated veteran of the war from Rock Island, who's now retired from a career with the Secret Service.
He admits speaking at events like this is never easy.
He talked about the death of another officer in 1969, and how seeing his name on the wall nearly 20 years later, inspired him to write a book, "Abandoned in Hell: The Fight for Vietnam's Firebase Kate." It was published earlier this year.
To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War, "The Wall That Heals" will be on display on Arsenal Island through Sunday, with volunteers staffing it 24 hours a day.
There are 58,000 names on the wall.
