HALLSTEAD, Pa. — A memorial honoring those who served in the Vietnam War is being displayed in Susquehanna County through the weekend.
"I'm happy to see him here; he was a gentleman and full of fun. This is one name I wanted to find," said Lynn Adams, Vietnam Veteran.
U.S. Navy Veteran Lynn Adams found the name of his classmate, Thomas Sudlesky, among thousands listed on the traveling Vietnam Wall in Susquehanna County. Sudlesky is one of Adams' four classmates who died while fighting in the Vietnam War.
The Traveling Vietnam Wall is a scaled-down version of the original memorial in Washington, D.C, honoring those who died in the line of duty.
"It's hard to wrap your head around all of the people who passed away in that time period, and Susquehanna County gave a lot of their sons to the Vietnam War," added Adams.
"For us to be able to bring this home so all of our Vietnam veterans can feel as if they were welcome back home means a ton," said Tina Haggerty, Hallstead-Great Bend American Legion Auxiliary President.
Tina Haggerty, President of the Hallstead-Great Bend American Legion Auxiliary, said after more than a year of fundraising, the traveling memorial is now the first display of its kind to be set up in Susquehanna County.
A sign of gratitude for those who originally weren't welcomed back home.
"I hope it does what it's supposed to do, the wall that heals, heal all the ones with lost love, ones. Bring together our Vietnam veterans and let them know they are welcome home and we appreciate everything they did," added Haggerty.
A pinning ceremony was held Friday to thank around 600 Vietnam veterans from our area for their service. An honor Adams is forever grateful for.
"It's a tremendous amount of work that they went through and we appreciate it. I'm glad I get to finally look at the wall after all these years," said Adams.
More than 58,000 names of those who made the ultimate sacrifice during the Vietnam War will be on display here at Freedom Memorial Park outside of Hallstead until Sunday at 3:00 p.m.