Veterans and Students Unite to Build Traveling Memorial

When Vietnam veteran Paul Perra lifted the panel containing his high school classmate's name, he wasn't just building a memorial. He was honoring a friend who never came home.

On Wednesday, generations gathered at Parker's River Landing in West Yarmouth to assemble The Wall That Heals, a three-quarter scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. The 375-foot wall stands 7.5 feet tall and carries the names of those who died in Vietnam.

Dennis-Yarmouth Regional High School football players worked alongside cross country runners from the middle school. St. John Paul II School students joined Coast Guard members from Air Station Cape Cod. Vietnam veterans guided the younger volunteers as they carefully positioned each panel.

Senior Andrew Finn and eighth grader Thomas Drake assembled the frame together, spanning a 50-year age gap with shared purpose. Their teamwork showed how the memorial bridges generations, teaching young people about sacrifice they never witnessed.

The most powerful moments came when veterans escorted specific panels. Perra, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who served from 1970 to 1971, walked alongside the section bearing his classmate's name. Charles Sooy Jr., an Air Force veteran, found his friend's name on the same panel.

When the panel locked into place, both men stopped and saluted. Purple Heart recipient Greg Auger, who served in the Army, stood nearby as fellow volunteers honored the fallen.

John Tibbetts carried a panel with his uncle Michael Fanning's name, who was killed in action in 1968. Kent Carlson, an Army veteran, helped carry a panel listing someone from his unit still missing in action. Each name represents a life, a family, and a community forever changed.

Why This Inspires

The wall arrived Tuesday with a police and motorcycle escort, welcomed like the returning heroes it honors. Committee chair Debi Robinson campaigned to bring the memorial to Yarmouth, creating a space where veterans can remember and young people can learn.

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund unveiled this traveling replica on Veterans Day in 1996. Since then, it's visited communities across the country, bringing healing closer to home for families who can't travel to Washington, D.C.

Eastern Bank employees joined local volunteers, proving that honoring service transcends job titles and generations. When Coast Guardsman Trent Rasmussen handed panels to Air Force veteran Michael Miller, they formed a chain of service spanning decades.

The wall opens Thursday morning and remains through the weekend, giving Cape Cod families a chance to touch names, share stories, and remember together.