The Wall: The HEARTS Museum Dedicates Scale Replica of Maya Lin’s Vietnam Memorial Wall

Morgan Robertson

On Sunday, March 27, 2022, countless citizens and veterans from Huntsville, Walker County, and the State came together to honor and dedicate the H.E.A.R.T.S. Veterans Memorial Museum’s Vietnam Wall Memorial.

Tara Burnett, Executive Director of the HEARTS Museum, began the ceremony by thanking everyone who played a role in establishing this great asset in our community. With a beautiful and (literally) monumental new background, speakers addressed the crowd. The colors were presented and placed along the wall, and a choir led us in the national anthem.

This Memorial, originally designed by Maya Lin for the DC Mall area in the nation’s capital, is an 80 percent scale model of what Americans now simply know as “The Wall.” It contains the names of all 58,000+ Americans who lost their lives while enlisted in the military during the Vietnam War, and it has found a home at the HEARTS Veterans Museum.

Ernest Bailes, our TX House member from district 18, expressed his admiration for Walker County and the Veterans who call it home.

As representatives of the City, Mayor Andy Brauninger and Joe Rodriguez read a proclamation that declared March 27, 2022, as H.E.A.R.T.S. Veterans Museum Vietnam Memorial Day. Mayor Brauninger expressed his gratitude for the H.E.A.R.T.S. Veterans Museum and their work to honor the veterans in the City.

Walker County Judge, Danny Pierce, read a declaration from the Commissioners Court thanking the museum for honoring those that served in the War.

Congressman Kevin Brady first addressed the men and women who served in the Vietnam War by thanking them for their service. He then read a prepared commendation highlighting the importance of the H.E.A.R.T.S. Veterans Museum and the work they’ve done for the community. Perhaps most notably, Congressman Brady stated that in all his time in office he has never met a county or city that honors and loves its Veterans more than Walker County.

Tara Burnett thanked the donors and partners responsible for the Wall with plaques to show the Museum’s appreciation. To conclude the ceremony, “Taps” was played following a 21-gun salute.

It was a beautiful, memorable, and moving ceremony, and on behalf of the LEAP Center, many thanks to the H.E.A.R.T.S. Veterans Museum for honoring those who preserve our freedoms.