The memorial, located at Mesa Field just west of Los Alamos High School, will be open for viewing 24 hours a day. There is no charge to attend.
Los Alamos High School senior Heather Hull has led the effort to bring "The Wall That Heals" to Los Alamos as part of a three-year Girl Scout Gold Award project.
The Laboratory's Veterans' Committee and Office of Equal Opportunity, along with many other New Mexico organizations and individuals, are assisting Hull with the logistics of staging the memorial here.
Protection Technology Los Alamos, which provides security services to the Laboratory, will have a 24-hour honor guard at the memorial. And the Laboratory's Occupational Medicine Group will have its counselors on call.
"For the veterans and others, I know this will be a very difficult, emotional event. But we hope that the wall will help veterans as they continue their healing while also educating non-veterans about Vietnam and the human toll it took," said Debbie Wersonick of Los Alamos' Office of Equal Opportunity.
The Wall That Heals is a 250-foot traveling replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. The wall travels across the country providing a visual memorial to the men and women who lost their lives in the Vietnam conflict. It is the only official Vietnam veteran-endorsed traveling display of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
The Wall That Heals was dedicated on Veterans Day 1996 and has since traveled to more than 100 cities in the United States. After its stay in Los Alamos, The Wall That Heals moves on to Janesville, Wisc. and then Jackson, Ohio.
The Wall That Heals has two wings that are approximately 123 feet long and about 5 feet high at their apex. Names of Vietnam veterans who lost their lives are laser-etched into panels of reflective black, powder-coated heavy aluminum supported by a structural aluminum frame.
Schedule for The Wall That Heals (All locations at Mesa Field, Los Alamos High School, unless otherwise noted):
Sept. 5 -- Memorial arrives in Los Alamos and assembly begins.
Sept. 6, 1 p.m. -- Opening Ceremony, including F16 flyover
Sept. 7, 4 p.m. -- "Remembrance and Reflection," a reading of the names of New Mexicans killed in Vietnam.
Sept. 8, 7 p.m. -- Concert by The Tony Furtado Group, dedicated to Vietnam Veterans. At the Mari-Mac Center and sponsored by the Los Alamos Summer Concert Series
Sept. 9, 4 p.m. -- Closing Ceremony with Helicopter flyover and Girl Scout Gold Award presentation
For more information, contact Heather Hull at (505) 662-7950.
Los Alamos National Laboratory, a multidisciplinary research institution engaged in strategic science on behalf of national security, is operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC, a team composed of Bechtel National, the University of California, The Babcock & Wilcox Company, and Washington Group International for the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration.
Los Alamos enhances national security by ensuring the safety and reliability of the U.S. nuclear stockpile, developing technologies to reduce threats from weapons of mass destruction, and solving problems related to energy, environment, infrastructure, health, and global security concerns.