Last week at the Mid-Willamette Valley Council of Governments annual award banquet, The Wall That Heals in Independence was honored with the 2025 Regional Cooperative Project Award.

Bringing this traveling replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial to Oregon was a true regional effort. Over 18 months, 17 local governments, state agencies, nonprofits, and more than 200 volunteers worked together to plan and execute the event. Highlights included a motorcade through four cities led by veterans on motorcycles and Corvette club members, a 24-hour memorial site operation in Independence, a Blackhawk flyover, a 21-gun salute, and a daily bugler performing Taps.

More than 8,600 visitors came to honor veterans, participate in guided tours, and experience the history of the Wall firsthand. Hosting The Wall That Heals demonstrated the impact of what’s possible when cities, counties, nonprofits, and communities move together as one.

  • A large group of people pose smiling at an indoor awards event. Several hold plaques. They stand on a carpeted stage with dark curtains and overhead lights.
  • A group of 12 people stand smiling on a stage in an auditorium. One woman holds a plaque. The atmosphere is formal and celebratory.
  • A group of four smiling adults is gathered indoors at an event. Two men in suits and two women in jackets stand in a well-lit hall. The mood is cheerful.
  • A woman in a light blue suit presents an award to an elderly man with a cane, flanked by two other men, on a stage with a warm, celebratory atmosphere.