On December 6, 2011 hundreds of motorcycle riders, mostly veterans, will be escorting The Traveling Wall that will arrive by truck at Veteran’s CommunityPark on MarcoIsland. The truck will be unloaded and the Wall will be assembled by a crew of trained volunteers. The exhibit will open to the public at 7:00 a.m. on Wednesday, December 7th – the 70th anniversary of Pearl Harbor.
Officially known as The Wall that Heals, this national touring exhibit will be open to the public from December 7th through December 10th – 24 hours a day. The exhibition was created by the Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial Fund and has traveled to more than 300 communities across the United States. Featuring a half-scale replica of the Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial in Washington, D.C., with all 58,267 names, it is accompanied by a mobile museum which tells the story of the Vietnam War, the Wall and the era. Touching Americans with its message of honor and healing, it is visited by thousands, many of whom would not otherwise have an opportunity to experience the power of the Wall in Washington, D.C.
Over the four days, the names of approximately 1,954 Floridians who were killed in Vietnam will be read. A computerized Information center that accompanies the Wall allows visitors to search for information about those named in the Memorial. The exhibition will bring the experience of Vietnam to our community and provide a unique educational opportunity to students on the Vietnam era as a vital part of our nation’s history. Students in southwest Florida schools are being made aware of the exhibit and encouraged to visit the Wall.
Coming on the heels of the soon-to-be dedicated Veteran’s Memorial in Marco, and based on the experience of other cities where the Wall has been on exhibit, the City of Marco Island is expecting large numbers of visitors to pay their respect at the Wall.
