The AP American History class took the day off of school Thursday, September 29 to visit a historical traveling Vietnam Memorial Wall at Living History Farms in Urbandale. The “Healing wall” travels around the United States giving Vietnam Veterans the homecoming they deserved 41 years ago. A veterans group hosts the wall for a few days at a time in their state or city and hosts special guest, events and memorial services.

History teacher Charity Miller took the AP class with the intent of teaching the students a little about the history of Vietnam before they dive into that chapter in class sometime in the next few months.

Students got an up close look at a replica of the Washington, DC Vietnam Wall Memorial. After looking at the replica, students were able to visit custom Iowa exhibits showing the Iowans who were KIA or went MIA during the war.

Team Welcome Home, who put on event, had a line-up of speakers Thursday morning. Governor Terry Brandstad and Lt. Governor Kim Reynolds took the stage first, led by the Team Welcome Home coordinator and a variety of veterans groups. The speaking portion was wrapped up by a tribute to the troops with the song Taps.

After the ceremony at Living History Farms, the students loaded the bus and headed for lunch and the Iowa Historical Building. The Historical Building is filled with politics, nature, RAGBRAI history, famous actors, and much more. The students filled out BINGO cards as they walked through the exhibits. The class finished the day with a picture in front of the Iowa Capitol building.