Resting place: City wins bid to keep Vietnam wall replica

Johns Creek gives $80K to fund as part of process.

By Mitchell Northam Mitchell.Northam@ajc.com

The city of Johns Creek is getting its own memorial for the veterans of the Vietnam War.

The city in north Fulton County announced this week that it had won the bid to become the permanent home for “The Wall That Heals,” a 250-foot replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., that has toured the country for 10 years.

For the wall, Johns Creek gave $80,000 to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund. The wall bears the names of more than 58,000 men and women who died in the war.

“The city council and I are thrilled that our community has been awarded ‘The Wall That Heals’ and we are look-

ing forward to adding it our already impressive Veterans Memorial Walk,” Johns Creek mayor Mike Bodker said in a statement. “... Johns Creek prides itself as a patriotic community that supports and honors our veterans.”

Contributing to the bid with donations were the Johns Creek Convention and Visitors Bureau and residents John and Cori Davenport. The Davenports are also the largest donors to the four-acre Veterans Memorial Walk, near Newtown Park, where the wall will be placed, the city said. Cori Davenport is a former city councilmem- ber in Johns Creek.

“We greatly appreciate all that the Davenports do to support our veterans, and to help the city of Johns Creek demonstrate our deep respect and gratitude for those who have served and sacrificed for our nation,” Bodker said.

The wall will make its final stop in Johns Creek, but over the past decade it has stopped in more than 250 cities. The wall first came to Johns Creek for a brief stay in March 2017, and more than 8,500 people came to visit it, the city said.

When retiring a replica, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund allows for communities to bid to be the permanent home. Johns Creek’s bid came with a full maintenance plan.

The city does not yet have an exact date for when the wall would be installed.

CONTRIBUTED “The Wall That Heals,” a 250-foot replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., will make its final stop in Johns Creek. The city won a bid to become the permanent home for the replica.