OTTAWA, Ohio, July 25 (UPI) -- A full-size copy of the Vietnam memorial wall in northwest Ohio was knocked over in a storm but immediately put back up by volunteers.
During a storm Friday, gusts as high as 70 mph toppled nearly all the panels of the 288-foot, 10,000-pound traveling memorial, which was on display at the Putnam County fairgrounds in Ottawa for the weekend's Tri-State Rhythm and Rib Fest, The Toledo Blade reports.
"Our emotions were shattered when that thing came down," said Tony Imm, head of the host committee. "But when it went back up, we thought it was a miracle."
An hour after the storm passed, some 150 people gathered to raise the wall, which was brought to Ohio by a veterans group from Florida, Imm said.
"The only thing I knew for sure was that we weren't leaving it down," said the memorial's manager, Greg Welsh.
"We've seen a lot of veterans here," Imm said. "It's a healing process for people. I don't think some people understand what the vets went through. Vets will come up to the wall and tell their buddies goodbye."
