This is The Wall as it spanned the lawn in front of the Town Center.
Here is a table set for all MIA (Missing In Action). The symbolic significance of its setting follows below.
West Hartford honored its fallen sons by identifying each beneath the panel which bears his name.
Other Connecticut casualties born outside of West Hartford were also given special attention by family and friends.
In 2007. Cheshire, CT, high school students undertook the project to create an individual poster for each of the Connecticut's 612 fallen. Here those posters are on display in a specially constructed tent.
The names of the eight women known to have been killed in action are also on The Wall. West Hartford identified each beneath the panel which bears her name.
In addition to the nurses who gave their lives, West Hartford identified by his place on The Wall the oldest casualty of the war...
... and the youngest.
***
Given what I witnessed over two days in West Hartford, the organizers and volunteers are to be commended for their highly coordinated effort. Of course, in any sizable community undertaking, many of those deserving recognition go unidentified, but so that at least those who can be identified get credit for their success, here are some reprinted pages from the event brochure. (Click on either page to enlarge.)
I would like to thank the West Hartford Town staff and friends who worked toward getting the wall to come, the local VFWs and American Legions and the hundreds of volunteers who provided assistance for the thousands of visitors who all came to honor the 58,267 Americans who gave their lives in the name of freedom.
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