CITRUS HEIGHTS, Calif. — A 375-foot long reminder of the veterans who lost their lives in the Vietnam War is coming to Citrus Heights at the end of March.
“It's gonna be wonderful — magical,” said Paul Reyes, the retired veteran and American Legion Post 637 member who’s hosting the memorial.
Named “The Wall That Heals,” the memorial will make its appearance in Rusch Park from March 29 to April 2, just in time for national Vietnam War Veterans Day.
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund owns the memorial, created in 1996, and tours it across communities across the country.
Reyes described it as “a three quarter size replica” of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., standing about 8-feet tall and 375-feet long.
The showcase will be open to anyone 24-hours a day for its entirety and will have volunteers “on duty” during that time. Reyes says he’s expecting up to 10,000 people from all over the state to come to Citrus Heights.
“We have received contact from people as far as Fresno, up near the Oregon border, in the Bay Area,” said Reyes. “If what we’ve been contacted by all comes to fruition, we could see 10,000 or more [people] during the entire week that it's here.”
He said he's planned this showcase since July 2022 after he was channel surfing and stumbled across a documentary on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s 'I Have A Dream' speech. Once the program ended, he found a documentary on the Vietnam Memorial Wall.
“About five minutes in, it clicked... I have a dream,” said Reyes. “I wanted the wall here.”
He says there are 58,281 reasons he wanted this memorial to make its way to Citrus Heights from Arlington, Virginia.
“It's the number of names on the wall. I wanted to honor them. I was fortunate I came home. They did not,” said Reyes.
There are the names of eight former Citrus Heights residents on the memorial and upward of 300 from Sacramento, according to Reyes.
A name reading will take place every night to honor those from nearby communities. A soft opening ceremony will be at 7 p.m. March 29. SacRT is offering complimentary shuttle bus services to the memorial from 6-9 p.m., pick up at Citrus Heights city hall.
Citrus Heights City Council approved $10,000 in arts funds to go toward hosting the memorial in Nov. 2022. Reyes set a $20,000 fundraising goal, which they’ve already surpassed.
“My hope is that we reach $30,000 or more because a percentage of any funds we do not use is being donated back to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund so they can continue doing their work," said Reyes. "These people cannot be forgotten.”
While he's anxious to tell his story, he knows the event is going to be "remembered for a long time."
To donate, send checks to; American Legion Post 637, P.O. Box 1, Citrus Heights, CA, 95611 with the memo "The Wall That Heals."
Reyes hopes to have a permanent structure in the city sometime in the future.
Find more information about the event, including how to volunteer, HERE.
WATCH MORE: First-of-its-kind study to delve into wartime trauma on Vietnamese Americans | To The Point
