LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — Each piece of the Traveling Kentucky Vietnam Wall is a reminder of those who made the ultimate sacrifice.
"They say you touch the wall, it touches you back, it does," Jack Mattingly, Traveling Kentucky Vietnam Wall Founder. "It did me."
Vietnam veteran Jack Mattingly founded the wall in 2018. He takes it across Kentucky, connecting with the public and those who served themselves.
"It's kind of like bringing the brother together, and its actually in a spiritual way," Todd Matonich, Rolling Thunder Kentucky 5 Chapter President, said.
On the wall, there are 1,108 names of Kentuckians who lost their lives during the Vietnam War.
"We have members who actually served in the war and use this wall to heal," Matonich said. "They see their buddies' names."
Some kids even took the day off school for a first-hand lesson in American history.
"They wanted to help put the wall up, and they wanted to know what the wall meant and what it was for," Mattingly said. "They even had tears in their eyes when we started explaining it to them."
The wall is a lesson for all of us and a promise to never forget.
