Thanks to the efforts of the Delaware County Veterans Services Commission, Delaware County is set to host the official replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall in Washington, D.C.

From Sept. 12-15, “The Wall That Heals” will be set up at Havener Park, located at 4085 Liberty Road in Delaware. The wall can be accessed at all hours, day or night, and is free admission.

“The Wall That Heals” was unveiled in Washington, D.C. on Veterans Day 1996 and was designed to travel to communities nationwide. Since its unveiling, the wall has been displayed in nearly 700 communities, including appearing in Hawaii for the first time earlier this year.

According to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund website, the wall was on the road for nearly 18,000 miles and appeared in 32 communities nationwide last year.

The wall is a three-quarter scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. The replica is 375 feet long and stands 7.5 feet tall at its highest point. Like the original memorial, “The Wall That Heals” is a chevron shape, and visitors can do name rubbings of individual service members’ names on the wall.

Applications must be submitted to host the wall, and there were four applicants in central Ohio this year. The Delaware County stop will be the only Ohio stop this year. Brian Galligher, the executive director of Delaware County Veterans Service and a U.S. Navy veteran, said the county has requested the wall twice before but has been unsuccessful due to the wall already being scheduled for stops in Ohio.

Delaware County Veterans Service was notified of its selection to host the wall in November. Galligher said the importance of bringing the wall to Delaware County is multiple and noted it’s not just for Delaware County but central Ohio at large.

“That’s the reason the website says ‘The Wall That Heals Ohio,’” Galligher said. “We don’t have it as anything connected to Delaware County specifically. The route (to bring the wall in) starts in Marysville, so we’re trying to include all the surrounding jurisdictions.”

He added, “The primary purpose is for the people who were in Vietnam who need to experience it and may not have the ability to go to Washington, D.C. An ancillary purpose is for school-age children to learn about the wall. There are a number of school districts that are coming in on Thursday and Friday to take tours. There will be an educational part with it. There’s an actual mobile education center that’s with it. And the staff from the wall in Washington, D.C. will be there to talk to the children whenever they’re there. And then the rest of it is for the public and for other veterans.”

On Sept. 10, an escorted procession will take the wall from Marysville through Ostrander and into Delaware and Havener Park. At 6 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 12, a “welcome home” event will be hosted at the park. Galligher said it’s intentionally not being referred to as an opening ceremony so people are not led to believe the wall isn’t accessible before the event. He noted the wall will be considered open to the public from the moment its assembly starts on Wednesday morning.

Taps will be played at the wall at dusk on Friday, Sept. 13, and Saturday will include what Galligher referred to as the “big ceremony,” with a candlelight vigil and the wall being “turned orange” to commemorate not only those names on the wall but also those who made it home but have since passed due to the effects of Agent Orange, PTSD, or other reasons associated with their service in Vietnam.

A closing ceremony will be held at the wall at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 15.

“The community of central Ohio is generally very patriotic, and I’ve heard nothing but good things,” Galligher said. “Another thing is that it’s in a very serene location. I encourage people to come see it at night. We have to light up the parking lot, but we’re trying to keep the lights away from the wall. It should glow at night because it’s in a very dark area without a lot of light pollution. So it should be kind of surreal at night.”

For more information on “The Wall That Heals” and the schedule, visit www.thewallthathealsohio.com.

Reach Dillon Davis at 740-413-0904. Follow him on X @DillonDavis56.