About THE MOVING WALL™ (The Traveling Wall)

"The Moving Wall" is the half-size replica of the Washington, DC Vietnam Veterans Memorial and has been touring the country for almost twenty years. When John Devitt attended the 1982 dedication in Washington, he felt the positive power of "The Wall." He vowed to share that experience with those who did not have the opportunity to go to Washington.

John, Norris Shears, Gerry Haver, and other Vietnam veteran volunteers built The Moving Wall. It went on display for the first time in Tyler, Texas in October of 1984. Two structures of The Moving Wall now travel the USA from April through November, spending about a week at each site.

A "Sponsor" is any organization or group of individuals that wants The Moving Wall to visit their area and is willing to do the work to make the local arrangements as described in "Scheduling a Visit of The Moving Wall." Sponsors are frequently civic groups, schools, or veterans' organizations. Sponsoring normally requires months of planning by dozens of local volunteers.

Since most sponsors are nonprofit organizations, many volunteers are needed at each Moving Wall display site. The local sponsoring organization determines how volunteers may participate. Volunteers may help during the week of the visit or assist with the months of planning and preparations. Volunteer jobs include helping visitors find names, security, assembly and disassembly, food preparation, parking, cleanup, and countless other tasks.

If you wish to volunteer at a particular site, contact the sponsoring organization for that visit. Select the site that interests you on the Schedules of Visits to identify the contact person.

A good article outlining why she volunteers, written by Sharon Denitto—a volunteer at many Moving Wall displays—may be found at "The Moving Wall."