Vietnam veteran and Aurora local Herschel Luckinbill thinks you may have heard the story, but he still can’t believe it himself.

He applied earlier this year to have the Vietnam Moving Wall come to Aurora in August. This is an honor bestowed upon 20 cities per year, and the Wall doesn’t really come this far north in November.

“They called me and said ‘Herschel, we’re not bringing it up there in August. Would it be OK if Aurora has the wall on Veterans Day?’” he said. “I was just speechless. It was fantastic.”

Luckinbill is often described as the ultimate veteran for his work with Honor Flight Chicago and just overall improving the lives of aging veterans in the Aurora area. He himself lost two shipmates while deployed on Dec. 23, 1966.

The weekend was a whirlwind for him, serving as the chief organizer in bringing the Wall to Aurora. This meant soliciting volunteers for setup, take down, trash pickup, communications and escorting people to the wall, among many other tasks.

The structure is a portable version of the permanent monument in Washington, D.C., but it still stands as a powerful tool of healing for those who lost loved ones in the Vietnam War.

“The Wall definitely has more emotion for me now that I’m older,” said Jim Davidson, who served on the Moving Wall committee in 2013 and 1989, the last time the wall was in Aurora. Davidson is a Vietnam War Army veteran who attended West Aurora High School, where the Wall was placed in this year.

“It really brings it home that it’s at West Aurora. Two of my friends from high school were casualties and I hope this is a fitting tribute for them,” he said.

Fox Valley Building Trades President Scott Roscoe also served on the committee and volunteered for many jobs, from setup and take down, to assisting in reading some of the names of those listed on the wall.

“It became personal for me with the reading of the names,” said Roscoe, who had snow accumulating on him as he stood out in the field near the Wall Monday night, reciting names through a loudspeaker in a solemn tone. “It was not just names I was reciting. Where the wall is now, in high school I was playing soccer and these guys were out there fighting.”

The closing ceremonies Monday night included a quick speech by Aurora Mayor Tom Weisner. A mid-snowstorm, fireworks and an emotional retiring of the flag that flew all weekend, was followed by the playing of TAPS.

“I hope this has given veterans all the debt of gratitude that they earned,” said Weisner. “This is a historic period in Aurora. This Wall will be remembered for years to come.”