In what Afton, Wyoming, military veteran leaders call “a monumental milestone” and a “once-in-a-lifetime” event, a traveling replica of the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C., and every one of its 58,281 names.
Afton VFW Post 4797 and town government are excited to be Wyoming’s only 2026 stop for The Wall That Heals, a three-quarter-size version of the memorial July 9-12.
VFW Post 4797 Vice Commander Jay Conley said the traveling version of the memorial stretches 375 feet and is 7.5 feet at its highest point.
“To be able to bring the replica here is a monumental milestone for us,” he said. “It’s the honor of a lifetime for one, and it’s something that has never happened in western Wyoming.”
As with the actual wall in Washington, the memorial is set up in a chevron shape with 140 panels supported by an aluminum frame. It's made of a synthetic granite, and visitors are allowed to do name rubbings of loved ones from it.
Conley said recruiting the traveling memorial for a stop in Afton was something a Vietnam veteran suggested.
The post’s members voted in favor of pursuing it, applied, and out of 150 applications, Afton was one of 31 sites chosen for 2026.
The wall was created by the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, and along with the wall replica will be a mobile education center that provides a war timeline, information about the war, and also about Wyoming Vietnam War vets.
The traveling memorial also has a Wall of Faces that depicts photos of those whose names are inscribed at the wall.
The tour this year has already begun in Hawaii and California. It will be in Billings, Montana, prior to moving south to Afton.
Getting Word Out
Efforts to recruit volunteers, solicit donations, and get the word out to the state — especially to Vietnam veterans — is underway.
Conley said he recently attended the National Museum of Military Vehicles in Dubois for National Vietnam War Veterans Day and shared the news with as many veterans as he could.
Plans call for offering family and friends who have loved ones' names on the wall an opportunity to escort those portions of the wall as they're unloaded from the semitrailer to Star Valley Middle School on arrival day, July 8.
The school was chosen because it has relatively flat ground, Conley said.
Within Star Valley, the Persian Gulf War veteran said there are 125 Gold Star families who have lost members in the nation’s wars, some of them in Vietnam.
Within 200 miles of Afton, there are communities represented by 120 names of the more than 58,000 on the wall.
But the visit is also about living veterans.
“This is a good way to welcome home Vietnam veterans who did not receive the welcome home that heroes should be given,” Conley said. “We want to create an avenue for them to be welcomed home and healed as well.”
Conley said that in addition to those names on the wall who died in combat or are missing in action, families can submit names of other Vietnam veterans who died from war-related causes such as PTSD, Agent Orange, or other war injuries.
Those names and a short biography of the person will be part of a mobile display during the wall’s visit.
The deadline to submit names is June 9.
A 375-foot replica of the Vietnam War Memorial will make its only Wyoming stop visit Afton this summer. Local officials call it a “once-in-a-lifetime” and “monumental milestone” for Western Wyoming. 
A 375-foot replica of the Vietnam War Memorial will make its only Wyoming stop visit Afton this summer. Local officials call it a “once-in-a-lifetime” and “monumental milestone” for Western Wyoming. (Courtesy Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund) 
A 375-foot replica of the Vietnam War Memorial will make its only Wyoming stop visit Afton this summer. Local officials call it a “once-in-a-lifetime” and “monumental milestone” for Western Wyoming. (Courtesy Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund) 
Afton sponsors of The Wall That Heals hope Wyoming residents will turn out to greet the semi that hauls the wall as it passes through their communities this summer. A route is not yet established. (Courtesy Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund) 
The Wall That Heals is a traveling version of the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C. and was created by the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund. (Courtesy Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund) 
The Wall That Heals is scheduled for a visit to Afton, Wyoming, on July 9-12. (Courtesy Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund)
Motorcycle Escort
Afton Tourism Director Lisa Grimsley said the committee behind the wall visit is waiting to see if it will have input on the wall’s trip from Billings into the state.
If that happens, ideally, it hopes to have live social media coverage of the truck that transports it making symbolic stops in Buffalo at the Veterans Home of Wyoming, at the National Museum of Military Vehicles in Dubois, and then on to Alpine.
Having communities turn out with flags and signs of support as it travels into and out of the state is a goal.
Planners hope for anywhere from 700 to 1,000 motorcycles to escort the wall into Afton.
Conley said volunteers are needed to unload and set up the memorial on July 8.
The next day, Gov. Mark Gordon is scheduled to give an opening speech, then a Light the Night celebration is planned at dusk July 10 to illuminate the wall all night.
Vietnam veterans who are members of the Afton VFW were given the choice of lighting it up with orange light, signifying the Agent Orange issues associated with the war, or a teal light that represents post traumatic stress syndrome. They chose teal.
24-Hour Access
In between, the wall will be open 24 hours a day with LED lighting at night providing easy reading of the names.
Conley said as a Persian Gulf War veteran, he was given a “hero’s welcome" when he returned from his combat tour in 1991, even when he “didn’t feel like a hero.”
He remembers a letter from a VFW member from Dubois named Ron Johnson, who was a Vietnam vet. Johnson offered him a “hero’s” welcome and challenged him as well.
“He challenged me to extend my hero’s welcome to any and all Vietnam veterans I encounter,” he said. “And since that day, I have taken it to heart.”
Dale Killingbeck can be reached at dale@cowboystatedaily.com.
