Vietnam 'wall' coming next year to Bethel Woods

By Dan Hust
MONTICELLO — Sullivan County will soon host a travelling replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
During the Sullivan County Legislature’s Veterans Committee meeting Thursday, Museum at Bethel Woods Director Wade Lawrence explained that “The Wall That Heals” will arrive at none other than the Woodstock site in Bethel on May 11.
“It’s a tribute to the fallen soldiers,” Lawrence explained, calling it “a moving experience.”
It’s a half-scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC, and it’s visited more than 250 communities throughout the U.S. and Canada for years (including a stop at the former Apollo Plaza in Monticello 15 years ago).
Lawrence was present to ask local veterans’ groups for volunteers to accompany the presentation, including its arrival and departure.
The Wall That Heals will be open to the public from May 13-16 next year just outside the Museum at Bethel Woods, where associated exhibits and lectures will be shown.
As Legislator David Sager noted, in 1969 half a million people gathered there for a concert that remains a controversial statement of the Vietnam era.
“The irony of the location,” affirmed Lawrence, “hasn’t escaped us either.”