SOMMERVILLE, Mass. — William Poulin finds the name of his childhood friend on the Vietnam Moving Wall. They both served in Vietnam, but his friend never made it home.
“I come to talk to him every time I come to the wall,” said Poulin. “His name is William Justin from Amesbury, Massachusetts.”
Poulin says it’s amazing to see the wall set up in Somerville for the weekend - just in time for Veterans Day.
“I will be here tomorrow, I want to celebrate Veterans Day with my brothers and sisters that are on the wall,” said Poulin.
The wall travels across the country, and until Monday morning, it’ll be at Assembly Row.
“I just think behind every name there’s a story, behind every name there are families left behind,” said Ted Louis-Jacques, Director of Veterans’ Services for the city of Somerville.
Louis-Jacques worked hard to bring the Vietnam Moving Wall here for the first time, and he says it’s been a great way to connect with local veterans.
“Especially coming out of a pandemic where a lot of our veterans felt isolated, they were not able to go to the VFW, the American legions locally here, so we thought about something to bring them together to rally them together,” said Louis-Jacques.
He says of the 58,000 names on the wall, 34 of them are from Somerville.
“For anyone seeing a loved one’s name, it’s very emotional,” said Barbara Gorsky, who lives in Somerville.
The wall is a replica of the Vietnam Wall in DC, about half its size, but still powerful to see all the lives lost in the war.
“It’s just mind-boggling and it was such a controversial war,” said Gorsky.
Gorsky came to find a friend’s name on the wall and hopes many others will come out to honor these veterans this weekend.
“This was a friend but people have lost brothers, husbands, fathers, I can’t even imagine the pain they’ve experienced,” said Gorsky.
You can come to see the Vietnam Moving Wall up close to 24 hours a day at Assembly Row until Monday morning at 9 a.m.
There will also be ceremonies there all weekend for Veterans Day.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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