Marion County will soon welcome the Wall That Heals when it arrives Nov. 14 at the Bluff Street Park. The wall will be onsite through Nov. 17.
Organizer Carlton Thornhill and the Wall That Heals committee have been working for months to make sure everything is perfect for its arrival. More than 30,000 people are expected to visit the memorial while in Columbia.
The Wall is a three-quarters-size replica of the Vietnam Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C. The Wall depicts the name of every soldier who was killed and or is missing from the Vietnam War. More than 58,000 names are engraved on the Wall.
The Wall will officially be open to the public beginning at 12:01 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 14, and will remain open for 24 hours a day until Sunday, Nov. 17, when the exhibit closes at 2 p.m. A special tent will be set up for veterans.
On Thursday, Friday and Saturday there will be a flag-raising ceremony every morning at 8 a.m., a wreath-laying program at noon and the flag will be lowered at 4:30 p.m.
The theme on Thursday is “Forever Young.” The median age of the service men and women listed on the Wall is 22 years, 6 months. The youngest soldier killed was 15 years old and the oldest was 63 years old.
Area schools will have the opportunity to visit the memorial and the mobile educational center.
Friday will be “Coming Home, Hometown Heroes.” Local veterans will be participating in the flag ceremonies, and Saturday will be “Honoring the Women of War.” There are eight women whose names are on the Wall. In addition women had to step up to the plate when the men went off to war.
Also on Saturday there will be a flyover at 4:30 p.m. and a special guest will sing the National Anthem. At 6:30 p.m. that night a candlelight ceremony will take place with dignitaries reading the names of the 637 soldiers from Mississippi whose names are listed on the Wall.
A spiritual service will be held on Sunday at 1 p.m. with the memorial closing at 2 p.m.
