The Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall is coming to Lakeland next month.

The traveling wall, which features more than 58,000 names, is a three-fifths scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., measuring 6 feet tall at the center and nearly 300 feet long. It will be in Lakeland, at 9822 Huff N Puff Road, from Friday, Aug. 23, to Sunday, Aug. 25.

“This is more than just a memorial to the Vietnam veterans,” said Terry Adams, the event’s program director and CEO/president of the Mid-South Veterans League Inc. and the MVLI Foundation. “It also has a panel for each of the KIAs (those killed in action) of all of the conflicts since, including Kuwait, Afghanistan and Iraq.”

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The wall also includes a 9/11 memorial in honor of the first responders who were killed in that attack.

Former Lakeland Commissioner Richard Gonzales, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel who served eight years of active duty and 20 years in the reserves, is looking forward to the wall coming to Lakeland. His father served in the Korean War, and his two children and son-in-law are in the Air Force.

“When I was in junior high at Treadwell High School, we were in class one day and they came and got one of our classmates and sent him home because his brother had been killed in Vietnam. That’s the closest I came to that terrible war,” Gonzales said. “I found his name on the wall when it came to Memphis years ago. That was special.”

Lakeland Mayor Josh Roman said the city is honored to host the event.

“As soon as we learned of the potential for the traveling wall to be in Lakeland, we quickly prioritized finding a suitable location and approving a donation to help with funding,” Roman said. “There is a culture of patriotism and duty here as shown by the emphasis we put on Veteran’s Day and our school programs as well as the many servicemen and women that choose to live in Lakeland.”

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Adams said he hopes the wall’s visit will help the area’s children learn and understand the sacrifices that were made and why. 

“It’s time for the people who either can’t afford to go to D.C. or don’t want to go to D.C. to come out and meet others who have family and friends on the wall to talk, to heal and to really honor those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice,” Adams said. “War is never going to be pretty, and freedom will never be free.” 

The traveling memorial wall came to Millington in 2022, but Adams said it did not get all the attention it deserved because it was set up on commercial property and perceived as a business promotion. 

This year it will be held on land owned by the City of Lakeland; the Memphis suburb took possession of the parcel late last year and tore down an Econo Lodge that had been there for 50 years.

Adams said this year’s event site should be easily accessible.

“As close as we can tell, we have 100,000 veterans in the five counties, so this really could affect a lot of people,” Adams said. “We want to make sure it’s a good experience for everybody.”