FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: March 25, 2005
CONTACT: Jeff Stoughton, jeff.stoughton@ttu.edu
LUBBOCK – The Moving Wall, a half-size replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in
Washington, D.C., will be on display in Memorial Circle at Texas Tech University April
1-7.
An opening ceremony will be held at 10 a.m. April 1 and the keynote speaker will be
Col. Roger Donlon, the first Medal of Honor recipient for the Vietnam War. Donlon
was gravely wounded during a firefight yet managed to remain in command of his troops
for several hours, rescuing his wounded soldiers and repositioning his forces to withstand
the attack.
James Reckner, director of Texas Tech’s Vietnam Center, said the Wall’s stay at Texas
Tech will encourage Vietnam veterans to visit the campus, and will afford students
an opportunity to interact with them and hear their stories.
“I think having the Wall in Memorial Circle will cause more students to think about
the war as they walk by,” Reckner said. “I hope they will stop and reflect on the
58,000 names on that Wall and what their sacrifice was all about.”
Congressman Randy Neugebauer, R-Lubbock, is scheduled to present the Vietnam Center
with a $496,000 check at 1 p.m. April 1. The money represents federal funding to sustain
the growth of the Vietnam Center’s Virtual Archive, which provides research assistance
to students and historians worldwide.
Reckner said the Vietnam Center is sponsoring the Wall’s visit to assist local veterans
who are unable to travel to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., and
also to fulfill the Center’s mission to encourage continued study of all aspects of
the American Vietnam experience. Parking will be available for veterans and the general
public.
Volunteers will maintain a 24-hour presence at the memorial during its stay.
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CONTACT: James Reckner, director of the Vietnam Center, Texas Tech University (806)
742-3742 or james.reckner@ttu.edu.