'Welcome home.' Veterans find peace at traveling Vietnam War memorial
Matthew Toth- The Wall That Heals, a traveling replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., is on display in Campbelltown.
- This three-quarter scale replica allows community members to honor the 58,281 names on the wall.
- Veterans and residents visited the wall to share stories, find names of loved ones, and experience a sense of healing.
Robert Koch served with the 34th Engineer Battalion in a village just south of Saigon during the Vietnam War. His unit would clear jungle and build landing zones for helicopters to fly troops in and out of combat.
One of his Koch's friends since second grade was killed while also deployed to Vietnam after his helicopter crashed.
"They tried to get me as a pallbearer, but I was so far back in I couldn't come home," he said.
Koch was one of many storytellers who gathered Thursday to share their stories as hundreds of residents came to see The Wall That Heals during its Welcome Home Ceremony at Campbelltown Community Park. The three-quarter-scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial arrived at the park Sept. 1 and will be open 24 hours a day for residents to visit and reflect.
Melissa Moss, Campbelltown American Legion Post 831 Commander, said the replica is in the Campbelltown community because legion members felt the need to ensure this generation of veterans was not forgotten.
"We may be a small community, but we're small but mighty," she told the Lebanon Daily News during the ceremony on Sept. 3. "We wanted to make sure that everybody got an opportunity to learn about the 58,281 names on the wall, and the stories behind them."
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The Wall That Heals is the only traveling replica of the national Vietnam memorial in Washington, D.C., endorsed by The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund. Additionally, the 53-foot trailer it arrived in is also a mobile education center that tells the story of the Vietnam War, the establishment of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the Wall, and how both transformed the way our nation treats its veterans and service members.
In late 2023, Jim Lasher was reading an article about The Wall That Heals. The co-chair for the local committee for the exhibit said the article reminded him of his father, who served in Vietnam and who died in 2019 before ever getting to see the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.
"The Wall goes to bigger cities most of the time," he said. "Very rarely does it come to a community with two red lights and no zip code."
The Wall That Heals was on the road for more than 16,000 miles and visited 31 communities across the country in 2025, according to the official website. The exhibit will visit another 31 communities by the end of 2026.
Organizers have been applying since 2024 to bring the wall to Campbelltown, and finally received a phone call in November 2025 that it would make its way to the Lebanon County area.
More than 50 volunteers erected the 375-foot replica at Campbelltown Community Park on Wednesday, Sept. 2. Moss said volunteers took more than six hours to get the full display up, despite severe weather concerns. In just two days, hundreds have visited, even as late as midnight.
"It's extremely emotional," Moss said. "There's been some tears shed on my behalf just getting to see The Wall That Heals do its function, and give someone an opportunity to heal."
Carlisle resident Karl Madison was saying a silent prayer near the wall before he spoke to reporters. Madison said his uncle served as a Huey pilot transporting injured soldiers and had recently died back in 2018.
"He'd organize these trips with our family to go down to (Washington) D.C.," he said. "Always there was a stop at the wall, where he'd point out either people he flew, someone he picked up, or a friend of his that just never made it back. And there would always be some type of story that went with the name."
Making the trek out to Campbelltown, Madison said it brought him a sense of closure to have his children see the names that he would visit and hear about in his youth.
"It's something we don't really talk about enough today," he said. "You hear about World War II, and modern wars like the one in Iran, but Vietnam sometimes seems to get glossed over by schools today."
Lebanon County Commissioner Jo Ellen Litz was able to locate Harold Bashore Jr.'s name on the wall. Bashore, also known as PeWee, attended what is now called Cedar Crest High School before entering the Vietnam War, and Litz described him as fun and full of life.
"His life meant something," she said during the ceremony. "His life did not go unnoticed, and I want to say 'Welcome Home.'"
Volunteers have been providing visitors with chances to learn more about the Vietnam War, along with make name rubbings of individual service members’ names on The Wall. Moss said that a large number of school districts have brought students to see the Wall and learn more about this time in history.
"I hope people take away an understanding of what they went through, not just overseas but when they came home," she said. "As a veteran, I couldn't have the service I had if it wasn't for what they had gone through."
There are more than 58,000 men and women who are looking down and smiling, according to Koch. While he's made the trip to D.C. to see the Veterans Memorial more than 10 times, many of his fellow veterans have never been able to visit for various reasons.
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"It's so awesome, I can't believe we've had this kind of turnout," he said about the Wall in Campbelltown. "It's about time, and I'm glad I got to see it."
Residents looking for more information about The Wall That Heals can visit thewallthathealscampbelltown2026.com.
Matthew Toth is a reporter for the Lebanon Daily News. Reach him at [email protected] or on X at @DAMattToth.