ROCK HILL, NY — The American Veterans Traveling Tribute Vietnam Memorial Wall, one at least five, has arrived in Sullivan County and will be located at Rock Hill Fire Department’s Frog Park through September 15.

The traveling walls were created for those who can’t travel to Washington D.C. to see the original Vietnam tribute wall. The wall in Rock Hill was created by the American Veterans Traveling Tribute. It is a scaled 80% replica of the original wall, measuring 360-feet long and eight-feet tall at its highest point.

The Travelling Tribute Wall, like the original, is inscribed with the names of military personnel classified as “declared dead,” meaning it also includes the names of people who died of causes other than action in battle, such as those who died in traffic accidents or from heart attacks. The names of those whose status is unknown, or missing in action (MIA), are also included on the wall. Information about the rank of the service member is not included.

The earliest date of a service member to be eligible for a listing on the wall is November 1, 1955, which is when President Dwight Eisenhower deployed the Military Assistance Advisory Group to the Republic of Vietnam to train the Vietnam Army.

The latest date for a person to be eligible is May 15, 1975, which is the last day of the Mayaguez incident, which is said to be the last battle of the Vietnam War, although it involved the seizure of a commercial ship off the coast of Cambodia.

An opening ceremony was scheduled for September 11, featuring the Sullivan County Volunteer Firefighter’s Association and the Sullivan County Veterans Coalition.

A motorcade escorted the wall from Woodbourne through Monticello to Rock Hill on September 10. There will be a closing ceremony on September 15 at 12 noon with remarks from Col. Bob Quackenbush, U.S. Army Retired, of Claryville, who served two tours in the Vietnam War.