Tuesday, Nov. 30
November 30, 2010
HPD reaches out to area’s needy with food boxes
December 2, 2010
Morgan City officials are expected large crowds tomorrow with the arrival of The Wall That Heals, a half-scale traveling replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in the nation’s Capitol.
The memorial opens at 9:30 a.m. Thursday, and will stay open 24 hours daily through Sunday. The exhibit, which stretches 250 feet, will be erected in front of the city’s municipal auditorium on Myrtle Street. Viewing is free to the public.
“This is going to impact visitors immediately,” said Carrie Stansbury, director of the Cajun Coast Visitors & Convention Bureau. “They’re going to see 58,000 names, and then have an opportunity to search for specific names of friends and loved ones.”
The powerful exhibit also includes a traveling museum designed to help guests understand the Vietnam War and that era, as well as an information center. Representatives with the tour said the displays feature more than 100,000 items that have been left at the Vietnam Wall in Washington, D.C., since it was built in 1982. Included among the items are the boots and dog tags worn in Vietnam by Jan Scruggs, who led the effort to erect the memorial.
Stansbury said the exhibits also feature photos and biographical information on some of the more than 58,000 troops whose names are engraved on the replica.
Displays chronicling the history of the wall and facts about the Vietnam War are also included.
Volunteers will be available throughout the tour stop to help visitors navigate on-site computers to locate specific names, Stansbury said.
The American Legion Riders, Atchafalaya Post No. 96, will provide a motorcycle escort as The Wall That Heals travels from Laplace to Morgan City, according to the post’s commander Tom Clark. Cyclists with the United Riders of Southern Louisiana, a consortium of more than 20 area motorcycle organizations, are expected to join the parade.
“We’re inviting the public to join us as long as they’re fueled and ready to go,” Clark said. “Our purpose is to raise awareness of The Wall, and to invite patriotic individuals and veterans to join us.”
Riders will gather at 5:30 a.m. at the American Legion Hall in Morgan City and ride to the Big Wheel Truck Stop in Houma for 7 a.m. From there, Clark said the brigade will continue to Laplace. “We’re welcoming bikers to escort The Wall back to the [Morgan City] auditorium.”
Morgan City Tim Matte said the city has planned a number of special activities in conjunction with the exhibit’s visit. Morgan City Tim Matte said the city has planned a number of special activities in conjunction with the exhibit’s visit, including an opening ceremony tomorrow at 9:30 a.m.; a U.S. Corps Forces Reserve Band concert on Friday at 7 p.m.; and a candlelight closing ceremony at 6 p.m.
Stansbury said locals can also participate in a national call for photographs. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund is collecting pictures of each of the troops listed on the wall. A scanner will be set up onsite where photos and remembrances can be submitted, she said.
The data will ultimately become part of a “Wall of Faces” exhibit at the Education Center at the D.C. wall and Lincoln Memorial, according to the VVFM’s website.
The names of more than 58,000 troops killed during the Vietnam War are etched into the Vietnam Veterans Wall in Washington, D.C. This week, a replica of that wall will make its final stop of the year in Morgan City. FILE PHOTO
