MOVING WALL ON DISPLAY IN SIKESTON

SIKESTON -- The Vietnam Veteran's Moving Wall memorial opened Wednesday in Sikeston for a six-day stay.

The wall is being brought to town by the Sikeston Jaycees and an organization called Firebase Sikeston, established specifically to bring the wall to Sikeston.

Tom Austin, chairman of Firebase Sikeston and a Vietnam veteran, predicted that 100,000 people will visit the wall while it is in the city.

The one-half scale, V-shaped, 250-foot-long, six-foot high wall is a replica of the Vietnam Memorial in Washington D.C. The names of more than 58,000 dead and missing Vietnam soldiers are engraved on the wall.

The display will be open 24 hours a day, and volunteers will be on hand to help visitors find names they are looking for. All the names on the wall are computerized to make finding a particular name easier.

The wall will be on display at Rotary Park, adjacent to the Sikeston Country Club and behind the Sikeston Chamber of Commerce building.

The Moving Wall display has criss-crossed the U.S. since its initial debut in 1984. The wall was in Cape Girardeau in 1989 and was in Murphysboro, Ill. last year.

Events are planned each day at the wall.

Tonight: Lt. Col. Ian Sutherland, speaker. 7:30 p.m.

Friday: Blair Moran, speaker, 7:30 p.m. Candlelight ceremony, 10 p.m. and recognition of Missouri POW/MIAs.

Saturday: Lt. Col Max Sullivan, speaker, Murphysboro, Ill. Night Patriots Bravo Co., 7:30 p.m.

Sunday: the Rev. Gerald Bean, speaker, recognition of Gold Star mothers, 7:15 p.m.

Monday: Britt Small and Festival concert at the Chamber of Commerce building at 7:30 p.m. followed by a closing ceremony at the wall, 10 p.m.