Bringing Healing Home Part 1: The Wall That Heals comes to Spindale
SPINDALE, N.C. (WNCW) - A 375-foot replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial is headed to Rutherford County next month, and the woman leading the effort to bring it here says it took three years, hundreds of volunteers and a community willing to do the work.
The Wall That Heals, a three-quarter-scale traveling replica of the memorial in Washington, D.C., will be on display Nov. 12-15 on the Isothermal Community College soccer fields at 360 Piney Ridge Road in Spindale. Admission is free, and the exhibit will be open 24 hours a day. Spindale is the only stop in North Carolina this year and the last stop on the 2026 national tour.
The wall bears the names of 58,281 service members who died in the Vietnam War or remain unaccounted for. A mobile education center travels with it, telling the stories behind the names with items visitors have left at the memorial in Washington, from postcards to a baby sweater a mother knitted for her son.
Lisa Marie Barrett, director and co-chair of The Wall That Heals Rutherford County committee, said the memorial still resonates because the war's effects have not faded.
"Grief, sacrifice, love and remembrance don't have an expiration date," Barrett said. "The Vietnam War may have ended more than 50 years ago, but the effects of the war continue today."
WHY BRING IT HOME
Barrett, a veteran advocate and Blue Ridge Honor Flight guardian, said her involvement began when the exhibit visited Spartanburg, South Carolina. She signed up for one volunteer shift but kept going back "because I saw what it did for families and for loved ones, for friends."
Many veterans never make the trip to Washington, she said, sometimes because of health concerns and sometimes because it is emotionally taxing. Bringing the wall to them, she said, changes the experience.
"When they go to touch that name on the wall for the first time, you can see the change in them," Barrett said. "You can see the weight lifted."
She also hopes younger generations will come. "I want them to understand the human cost of war," she said. "We can hate the war, but we love the warrior."
THE THREE-YEAR PROCESS
The Wall That Heals is a program of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund. Barrett said hosting the exhibit is far more involved than asking. Communities submit written applications and must show they have an appropriate site, enough volunteers, community partnerships, financial resources and local government support. The committee's application was approved, she said, after a process that took about three years.
The tour comes with no national budget for host communities, Barrett said. This year's fee just to haul the wall is $12,000. The Rutherford County effort is funded by private donations, businesses and community partners. The committee lists the RHI Legacy Foundation as its presenting sponsor, Isothermal Community College as its host site and the Veterans Foundation of North Carolina as its fiscal sponsor.
Setting up the memorial takes more than 300 volunteers and 140 panels, 70 on each side. Barrett said volunteer slots are nearly full, which she said is rare at this stage for a host site. She said the committee is volunteer-driven and most members, including her, hold full-time jobs.
"This is truly Rutherford County coming up and saying, we want this," Barrett said.
THE WEEK AHEAD
The wall arrives Tuesday, Nov. 10, by motorcycle escort. Riders are expected to leave Spartanburg, South Carolina, around noon and reach the college between 1:15 and 1:45 p.m., depending on how many motorcycles take part. Barrett said riders are coming from several states, including Maine. Combat Vietnam veterans will ride at the front, just ahead of the truck carrying the wall.
The committee is encouraging residents along the route to turn out with flags and signs. Viewing times for Forest City, Spindale and Rutherfordton are still being finalized.
The wall will be set up Wednesday, Nov. 11. A welcome home ceremony is set for 4 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 12. On Friday, Nov. 13, the wall will be lit orange half an hour before sunset in remembrance of Agent Orange. The closing ceremony is at 1:45 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 15, and the exhibit closes at 2 p.m. Details on additional events are expected on the committee's website.
Ten Rutherford County service members who died in Vietnam, called Hometown Heroes, will be honored. Among them is Army Pfc. Douglas Grant Bailey, who was killed in 1968. Barrett said his grave is near the college. "We are literally bringing it home," she said.
The committee is also taking part in the In Memory program, which honors Vietnam veterans who returned home and have since died. Barrett said about 2 million Vietnam veterans have died since the war, but only about 9,000 have been honored through the program. Applications are available on the committee's website.
Visitors who want to find a specific name can stop at a tent at the entrance, where volunteers will look it up in an app or book and write down the name and panel. Names are listed chronologically by date of casualty. School and group tours can be reserved by text at 828-351-4955. More information is at thewallthathealsspindalenc2026.org.
Asked what she hopes remains after the wall leaves, Barrett said she hopes veterans who have "carried something quietly for decades" get a chance to heal, and that a child learns a story that might otherwise be forgotten. "I hope that gratitude will continue as well," she said.
WHAT'S NEXT
In part two of Bringing Healing Home, WNCW speaks with veterans who are helping make the visit happen ahead of the wall's arrival. Part three will be a visit to the wall in Spindale.
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TAGS: The Wall That Heals, Vietnam War, Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Spindale, Rutherford County, veterans, Isothermal Community College, Bringing Healing Home, WNCW
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