The 370-foot-long Vietnam Traveling Wall, dedicated to those who died in the Vietnam War, will arrive in Lewis County Wednesday afternoon.
The wall, an 80 percent-scale replica of the memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., will be set up outside the Veterans Memorial Museum in Chehalis from Thursday to Sunday.
At 3 p.m. Wednesday, motorcycle clubs from around the region will meet at Bethel Church to escort the semi truck carrying the wall through the Twin Cities before arriving at the museum.
The escort will take the wall up Interstate 5 to Centralia, down Harrison Avenue to Gold Street, through downtown Chehalis and finally over the exit 77 overpass to the museum.
“We are doing a wall escort with motorcycle clubs. We have quite a few clubs. We even have some that are coming down from Tacoma and up from Longview,” Museum Director Chip Duncan said.
The wall, with the names of more than 58,000 people who died in Vietnam etched into it, will open to the public at noon on Thursday. A wreath laying ceremony will be held at 6 p.m. Thursday.
The last time the wall stopped in Chehalis was in 2007, more than 10,000 people visited.
Duncan said he requested the wall two years ago to ensure it would make it back to Chehalis to
commemorate the 50th anniversary of the beginning of the war.
More than 200 volunteers will help visitors identify which panel has the name of a lost friend or family member. Uniformed escorts will walk people to the wall to find specific names, Duncan said.
“You will be able to come to the wall and if you have a name you are looking for, we have computers that will find exactly where it is,” Duncan said.
Chaplains will be on hand each day to help people through the emotional event.
The stories of each Lewis County veteran who died in Vietnam have been narrated and will be played over the loudspeakers during the wall’s visit. Twelve hours worth of records will be played with music in between, Duncan said.
“It’s a way that says they are not forgotten at all and a way to remember them and celebrate their lives,” Duncan said. “It does offer closure.”
Opening ceremonies will begin at 6 p.m. Friday and will feature a speech from retired Air Force Lt. Col. Travis Wofford, of Centralia.
On Saturday, retired Army Special Forces Maj. John Plaster, author of six books, will share his experiences while serving three tours in Vietnam.
Following Plaster will be New York Times-bestselling mystery author J.A. Jance, who will speak about one of her classmates, Leonard Douglas Davis, was killed in Vietnam 48 years ago. Her friendship with Davis and his fiancee, Bonnie Abney, inspired her recent book, “Second Watch.”
Abney and artist Michael A. Reagan, who has created more than 3,700 portraits of veterans lost in combat, will join Jance on Saturday.
Retired Army Chaplain Lt. Col. Stan Baker, Chehalis, will lead a nondenominational general Protestant service Sunday morning similar to those held in the field during the Vietnam War.
The closing ceremonies will start at 1 p.m. Sunday and feature a speech by retired Army Col. Ron Averill, of Centralia.
Duncan said the weekend-long visit will be an emotional event for people as they honor those who died in the war.
“It’s definitely a healing moment we don’t want to miss,” Duncan said.
