Rossville Hosts Quarter-Scale Replica of Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall, Happening Today

A piece of Washington, D.C. has come to Rossville. A quarter-scale replica of the iconic Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall is now on display at the Rossville Athletic Center. This replica honors the 58,300 names of those who sacrificed during the Vietnam War, just like the original memorial in D.C.

“Outreach reached out to me and the Walker County Historical Preservation Commission, saying they wanted to bring this wall to Walker County. We have a lot of military history here, and we wanted to honor the 31 men who lost their lives in the war, so we jumped at the opportunity,” said Randall Pittman from the Walker County Historical Preservation Commission.

Built in just 60 days by 200 inmates at Walker Faith and Character-Based Prison, this replica is crafted from 3,000 pounds of cardboard, 300 sheets of chipboard, and 40 gallons of paint and glue.

“They weren’t allowed to use any knives, so this was all done with hole punches, elementary school scissors, and paper cutters. Every letter is hand-painted. The wall is 240 feet long and took over 860 man-hours to complete,” said Tina Groce, President of Operation Outreach.

The display will be up at the Rossville Athletic Center from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. today.