It’s heartbreaking and breathtaking all at once: Imagine a traveling wall that’s 6 feet tall at the center and almost 300 feet from end to end, covered with more than 58,000 names of those lost to the Vietnam War.
Add memorial wreaths and a bagpiper playing in front of that structure, and the result is a solemn yet inspiring Photo of the Week from FLORIDA TODAY visual journalist Tim Shortt.
The Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall is in place this week during the 38th annual All Veterans Reunion at Wickham Park in Melbourne.
And at the reunion’s opening ceremony on Monday, May 4, bagpiper Melody Hunter of the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office Honor Guard offered to play “Amazing Grace.”
Emotion flows from every pixel in the picture, and Shortt gets emotional talking about the wall’s meaning.
“I’ve photographed this annual reunion for most of its 38 years in Brevard, and the impact of seeing more than 58,000 names of Americans lost in the Vietnam War never fades,” he said.
“I strongly recommend visiting this when it is here for one week in May every year. And more schools should plan field trips here to see it, as well as the memorial here to 9/11 victims and those we lost in the War on Terror.”
A 3/5 scale of the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C., the traveling wall can be viewed at Wickham Park through Sunday, May 10.
Take Shortt’s advice. It’s a sobering sight, but one you’ll be glad you experienced
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: A wall of names, a well of emotion in Photo of the Week
Reporting by Britt Kennerly, Florida Today / Florida Today
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
