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WILKES-BARRE — Clyde Peters knows why it’s so important for The Wall That Heals to travel around the country, visiting small towns.
Like Plymouth, Peters’ hometown.
The Wall That Heals will be staged at Huber Stadium on Sept. 5-8 and will be open 24 hours a day and free to the public.
Peters said bringing the Wall to Plymouth means a lot to him because one of those young men killed in Vietnam was his nephew, David Lee, who was 18 when he was killed on April 22, 1969.
“I remember exactly where I was when I got the news,” Peters said. “I was in Lai Khe (Vietnam) with the Big Red One 1st Infantry Division. I went to the Red Cross building and they told me what happened.”
Peters was given orders for TDY — Temporary Duty — and was sent home to Delaware to meet Lee’s casket to take him home.
Peters, the youngest of 17 children, was serving in Vietnam at the same time that his nephew was there.
“I was in Vietnam when David was killed and I brought him home,” Peters said. “He was my sister’s son. I need this to happen to honor all those who gave their lives for us.”
Lee was one of seven Plymouth soldiers who were killed in Vietnam. The others were:
• Leonard Bish, Army, killed May 16, 1967.
• Sterling Coates, Marines, killed July 2, 1967.
• Frank Glowiak, Army, killed Oct. 27, 1966.
• Edison Phillips, Army, killed May 21, 1969.
• Joseph Sinkewicz, Marines, killed Feb. 26, 1968.
• Daniel Witko, Army, killed June 18, 1968.
The Wall That Heals honors the more than 3 million Americans who served in the U.S. Armed Forces in the Vietnam War, and it bears the names of the 58,276 men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice in Vietnam.
“The Wall has touched everybody in one way or another,” Peters said.
Peters, a manager of the Plymouth Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1425, is spearheading the effort to bring The Wall to his hometown.
“I’m a Vietnam veteran who served in Vietnam in 1968-69 with the Big Red One,” Peters said. “I want to bring The Wall that Heals to Plymouth, a small town of 5,500 people. We lost seven brave men in the Vietnam War and I want to bring them home to Plymouth so people can honor them.”
Peters said the wall will arrive in Plymouth on Sept. 3 with a full military escort.
“We want to honor all of our fallen heroes from Plymouth and to honor all the fallen heroes of Vietnam and all wars,” Peters said. “We will never forget them and what they sacrificed for all of us.”
About Clyde Peters
State Sen. John Yudichak, D-Nanticoke, recently presented a Pennsylvania Senate citation to Peters for his continuing efforts to help area veterans. Peters was also recently honored by the Back Mountain Men’s Ecumenical Group for his dedicated military service.
Peters is a Vietnam veteran who served with distinction. He was a member of Company A, 2nd Infantry Regiment, and Company A, 28th Infantry Regiment, of the U.S. Army when his unit was ambushed on Thanksgiving Day 1968.
Peters risked his own life to save a fellow soldier and was wounded in action.
He is the manager of VFW Post 1425 and a member of American Legion Post 468.
Peters was instrumental in the creation of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Plymouth and helped to restore the World War II Honor Roll at Second and Reynolds streets in Plymouth.
About The Wall That Heals
• The Wall That Heals exhibit features a three-quarter scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. The replica is 375 feet in length and stands 7.5 feet high at its tallest point. Visitors experience The Wall rising above them as they walk towards the apex, a key feature of the design of The Wall in Washington.
• Like the original Memorial, The Wall That Heals is erected in a chevron-shape and visitors can do name rubbings of individual service member’s names on The Wall. The replica is constructed of Avonite, a synthetic granite, and its 140 numbered panels are supported by an aluminum frame. Machine engraving of the more than 58,000 names along with modern LED lighting provide readability of The Wall day and night.
• As on The Wall, the names on The Wall That Heals are listed by day of casualty. Beginning at the center/apex, the names start on the East Wall (right-hand side) working their way out to the end of that wing, picking up again at the far end of the West Wall (left-hand side) and working their way back in to the center/apex, joining the beginning and end of the conflict at the center.
The Wall That Heals
Mobile Education Center
• The 53-foot trailer that carries The Wall That Heals transforms to become a mobile Education Center. The exterior of the trailer features a timeline of “The War and The Wall” and provides additional information about the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Additional exhibits give visitors a better understanding of the legacy of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the collection of items left at The Wall.
Displays include:
• Hometown Heroes — Photos of service members on The Wall who list their home of record from the local area. The photos are part of the effort to put a face to every name on The Wall and for the Wall of Faces.
• Map of Vietnam.
• In Memory Honor Roll — Photos of local Vietnam veterans honored through VVMF’s In Memory program which honors veterans who returned home and later died of Vietnam-related illnesses.
• A display of items representative of those left at The Wall in Washington, D.C. in remembrance of those on The Wall.
• Digital kiosk allows visitors to search for names using VVMF’s Wall of Faces.
• Two paper directories allow for names to be found alphabetically.
• The Gold Star Bike — Donated to VVMF by the American Gold Star Mothers in 2012, the bike is a Softail Custom Harley that pays tribute to the mothers who lost sons to the Vietnam War.
