Volunteers adding new features to Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Hardin County

ELIZABETHTOWN, Ky. (WDRB) -- A steady stream of visitors, including veterans and their families, stopped by the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Elizabethtown on Monday in observance of Memorial Day.

Robert Griffin, a Vietnam veteran who helped build the wall, remembers his fallen comrades at the memorial, where 58,318 names are etched into the wall at the Elizabethtown Nature Park.

"That section of the wall over there on the right, there's 155 guys there that I knew in Vietnam that are all dead now," said Robert Griffin, a Vietnam veteran who helped build the wall. "Unless you've been in combat, and been shot at, you don't know," he said. "There's no way you can relate that — not even to a psychiatrist. I remember it took me 38 years after I left to even think about going to the wall."

Kentucky's Vietnam Veterans Wall Memorial is an 80% replica of the original one in Washington. It helps many veterans find comfort.

"This is a peaceful, serene setting," Vietnam veteran Greg Lowe said. "We consider it to be hallowed ground. My college roommate and best friend is on the wall. Line 113, Panel 4 West."

It's a place to process their own stories and loss.

"Memorial Day is all about them and what it means for freedom that everybody in America has," said Carey Christie, pointing at the wall behind him.

Christie leads the Veterans Tribute Group, a local team of veterans who built the wall and are still adding on to it. A statue honoring Vietnam War dog handlers will soon go up to one side of the memorial. It will honor the watch of 263 dog handlers and 350 dogs lost in the war, Christie said.

"They had bounties on them," Christie said. "$5,000 on a dog, and $5,000 on a handler."

Another newer addition on the back of the wall includes new engravings with each branch of the military and iconic images of the Huey helicopters. Sidewalks will be poured there this week to help grant access to visitors in wheelchairs.