Tuesday (7/7/2026) I learned that The Wall That Heals®, the traveling three-quarter scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and Mobile Education Center, was coming through the valley. My sister-in-law called me and said, "you should come over to the post office and watch". There was a motorcade escort of The Wall That Heals® from Alpine Wyoming to the Star Valley Middle School in Afton Wyoming.
I put my leg on and rode over to watch.
Here are the pictures I got.
On Wednesday, The Wall was assembled by volunteers in the morning and was open by the afternoon. For the full schedule, you can go the daily schedule on the Wyoming Welcomes The Wall That Heals | Afton, WY | July 9-12, 2026 site.
Dad was curious if he would be able to go see it without getting out of the truck. So, on Friday (7/10) in the early morning hours (7:20-ish), I rode up to the middle school to see how they had it setup.
One of the volunteers from Etna drove his AM General HMMWV to the site.
From the parking lot, this sign stood next to the side walk.
They had the Mobile Education Center parked in the grass next to the track.
Lucky for me, they had not gotten all setup yet, so I was able to get this picture.
Just inside the track infield, they have The In Memory Plaque displayed.
Near the plaque, they had an Information table with this display.
Learn More
Covering a large area of the infield is where they had assembled The Wall That Heals®.
As you get closer, you begin to see the names.
You can read more details about The Wall on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund (VVMF) site. It points out that the Apex (center) of The Wall is where it truely begins and ends.
Starting at 1959 the panel on the right side ("East Wall"), the names extend over the wing to the end, picking up again at the end of the wing on the West Wall (left side), working their way back to the center/apex.
At the bottom of the left side panel of the apex it ends at 1975.
On my way in I had noticed the motorcycle parked on the grass, but it wasn't until I was on my way out, that I took a closer look.
Upon further investigation, I learned that this in the "Gold Star Bike", a Softail Custom Harley that pays tribute to the mothers who lost sons to the Vietnam War.
Steve Davenport bought the Softail Custom in 1990 and in 2000 he had a custom paint job put on the bike, with the names of 75 men who fell in the Vietnam War.
This include the "rubbing" of Robert W. Cupp, Steve's friend, which started it all.
Steve dontated the bike to the Gold Star Mothers who in turn donated it to VVMF in 2012.
Read the full story...
My uncle Sherm was a Munitions Technician and at times was posted in Thailand and Laos in support of the Vietnam War. Although he is not on The Wall, he does have a profile on the VVMF In Memory Honor Roll: Ralph Sherman Hemmert
- Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund
- Wyoming Welcomes The Wall That Heals | Afton, WY | July 9-12, 2026
- “Gold Star Bike” to Travel with The Wall That Heals
- Your Stories. Your Wall. (vvmf wordpress blog)
- In Memory Honor Roll
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