Vietnam Memorial Makes Rare Stop in East Texas

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial that graces Washington DC is large, and a replica half that size travels the country to give those wishing to pay respects close to home the chance to do that.

The wall comes to East Texas this weekend after a stop in Kansas last week. It moves on to Alabama next week. We'll have to make a short drive to see it this weekend, but it may be worth it since it will be the only Texas stop this fall.

The replica is coming to Rusk County this Friday, and will be on public display from Friday morning until noon Monday at Rader Funeral Home, 800 Kilgore Drive in Henderson.

They’ll have a special opening ceremony with patriotic music and prayer at 10 a.m. Friday.

After the opening ceremony, there’s no specific time you’ll be held to if you’d like to stop by and view the memorial. It will be open to the public 24 hours a day while it’s at the funeral home, and there will be volunteers there to help you wade through all of the names on the memorial. There are more than 58,000 names listed, all of whom were killed in action, went missing in action or were prisoners of war. It’s free to view the wall.