PERRYVILLE, Mo. (NEXSTAR) — Missouri Vietnam veteran Jim Eddleman had a vision: he wanted to honor other Vietnam vets — but he wasn’t sure where to do it. The perfect place ended up being in his own backyard.
For the project, Eddleman donated 50 acres of his family farm land for a memorial, which began coming together through the work of Eddleman and wife Charlene, in addition to a board of directors. Eddleman spent close to $3 million to build the memorial, now known as America’s Wall, located at Missouri’s National Veterans Memorial in Perryville.
Once built, America’s Wall was an exact replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The expansive and somber wall lists the names of over 58,000 servicemen and women who died during the Vietnam War. Like the wall in Washington, America’s Wall also features shiny black panels bearing the thousands of names — and those panels stretch out to form a “V” shape, just like the D.C. wall.
All of it began with a promise Eddleman says he made to himself — that he’d one day honor his comrades if he made it home alive.
“I didn’t know what that promise would be but it turned out to be way more than I expected,” says Eddleman.
Eddleman and Co. met with Washington, D.C. officials before the wall’s construction to make sure the idea was supported. According to MNVM, over 60,000 names were spell checked by volunteers three times during the wall’s construction.
The memorial has become quite an attraction for Missourians and residents of neighboring states, alike.
“I’ve already had people come here and tell me, ‘I used to go to Washington, D.C. once every five years and now I can come here five times a year.’ If I just had one person tell me that once a day, that makes my day worthwhile.”