EAST PEORIA, Ill. — The Vietnam Travelling Memorial Wall will be in East Peoria later this month.
The wall honoring those who lost their lives while serving in Vietnam will be in East Peoria’s Levee Park for five days, Sept. 23 – 27. This will be the first time East Peoria has hosted the wall.
The wall is a 3/5-scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. It stands 6 feet tall at the center and stretches almost 300 feet.
As of 2011, there are 58,272 names on the wall, the same as in Washington, D.C.
The wall will arrive in East Peoria between 9:30 and 10 a.m. Sept. 23. It will take volunteers about four hours to assemble the wall, which has 142 sections consisting of two panels each.
Those who want to help assemble or take down the wall should be age 18 or older and able to do the physical activity of setting up or taking down the display.
Set-up will occur Sept. 23 from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. and the wall will be disassembled Sept. 27 from 2 until 5 p.m.
The Quiet Pride Motorcycle Club, which is comprised of former and current military personnel, is organizing the formal escort of the wall into East Peoria. They will be assisted by East Peoria Police, Tazewell County Sheriff’s Department and Illinois State Police.
To volunteer, email event co-chairman Dan Decker at dandecker73@gmail.com.
