The GoldStars Tribute Wall set up for visitors to come and see. The wall is to set to come to downtown Mineola Friday through Monday, and there will be a ceremony Saturday at 10 a.m.

The GoldStars Tribute Wall honoring fallen United States military will come to Texas for the first time, and the destination is Mineola this weekend.

The GoldStars Tribute Wall is a traveling memorial honoring fallen service members since the beginning of the Gulf War.

Downtown Mineola has the honor of not only being the wall’s only stop in Texas this year but also the first-ever stop in the state.

A man from the area saw the wall and wanted to get it to Texas, Owen Tiner, Mineola marketing and tourism director, said.

He thought that Mineola seemed like a good place for it. The idea was pitched to the city and officials were excited to be a part of it and agreed, Tiner said.

“It was a no-brainer for us to do this, and we have a really cool spot downtown to put it,” Tiner said.

The tribute wall will be in downtown Mineola on West Commerce Street near the Veterans Memorial and Gazebo area from Friday to Monday.

At 10 a.m. Saturday there will be a ceremony at the tribute wall honoring the fallen. To promote awareness and answer questions, veterans organizations and the owner/builder of the wall will be at the ceremony.

Several Gold Star families will speak and be honored at the ceremony, Tiner said. This is a chance for these families to pay tribute to family members whose names are on the wall. There will also be 12 stars added to the wall for Texans who served and fell.

A Gold Star family means the immediate family members of a fallen service member who died while serving in a time of conflict.

He added that Wood County and East Texas, in general, are veteran-friendly areas with a large veteran population and lots of veteran organizations, so the wall is a great thing to bring to the area.

Since the announcement of the event, Tiner said he has had people from all over the United States reach out and say they are coming, including a family from Alaska.

“It’s not just for Mineola. We get to host it, but it’s not about, ‘Hey, look at us we’re Mineola.’ It’s more about we’re the host of something for all of Texas,” Tiner said.