THE WALL THAT HEALS: HERE EMOTIONS RUN FREELY; REPLICA OF VIETNAM WALL IN CITY

Sorrow. Betrayal. Anger. Guilt. Fear. Pride.

They are all powerful emotions that Linda and John Anderson see every day when people visit the half-size replica of the national Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.

But wherever it travels the wall offers healing, Linda Anderson said.

The Wall that Heals replica is at Arena Park through Monday and will open to the public with a ceremony at 10 a.m. today. The wall is best reached from the park entrance off North Kingshighway. Parking is available in a lot off Kiwanis Drive near the Naval Reserve building.

The Vietnam conflict brings out many emotions that people are still trying to deal with. It affected thousands of families and for some changed their lives forever, said Terri Clark-Bauer, director of the Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitors Bureau.

"What we hope is there will be healing for some of the people who fought in Vietnam and lost friends," she said.

More than 400 people from the region -- Southeast Missouri, Southern Illinois, Western Kentucky and parts of Tennessee -- died during Vietnam. Their names will be read during a ceremony Saturday afternoon.

A wreath-laying ceremony is planned for 7 p.m. Friday and a candlelight service at 8 p.m. Sunday.

"The wall is almost like their cemetery," Clark-Bauer said. Not only does the wall pay tribute to the veterans who served during Vietnam, it is also a way to pay tribute to all who have served the country.

Visiting the exhibit is a chance to "tell them how much we appreciate what they did to protect communities like Cape Girardeau," she said.

There are still soldiers unaccounted for as prisoners of war or missing in action, not just from Vietnam but other wars like World War II and Korea. There are so many families who are "left in limbo" because they don't know whether their loved one died or suffered, said Ron MacCubbin, a Vietnam veteran.

MacCubbin plans to be at the wall as much as possible talking with other veterans and offering condolences and a listening ear. "That's sacred ground to us," he said.

Many veterans who haven't yet been to the national memorial won't visit the exhibit until after the crowds have left. It is such a moving experience the first time that many won't visit or talk about the wars unless around other veterans.

Anderson said she has learned more about her husband's experience in Vietnam while working with the traveling wall than ever before. "I never knew what questions to ask," she said. But seeing him talk to veterans and listening to their stories, she has learned about the war and how it affected him.

John Anderson served as a medic during Vietnam. He returned home in 1968, and the couple married. Anderson didn't talk about Vietnam or know about the wall until 1992, when he and Linda took part in a motorcycle ride from California to Washington, D.C., to see the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

After that experience, they began organizing yearly cross-country trips to the wall and then joined the traveling wall in 1996.

Veterans develop an individual relationship with the wall, said Jerry Stauber, commander of American Legion Post 63 in Cape Girardeau. "It creates emotion and reaction."

One man, who had been a POW, stopped Wednesday while crews were setting up the wall and information tents. When the man enlisted he was among 15 men from the area who joined together. Of those 15, only three survived. The names of the other 12 are on the wall, MacCubbin said.

Some of the stories bring tears. Even Anderson, who has been traveling with the wall for nearly four years, reacts to the emotions. She has cried with families as they looked for a name on the wall and when combat buddies brought gifts to a friend.

People bring all sorts of things to the wall -- items owed to buddies or letters and cards. The letters to fathers and grandfathers are always hard to take, she said.

One man left an emotional note to his father-in-law about what a wonderful wife and mother his daughter had become. It shared stories of the family and grandchildren.

"The wall can handle all their emotion," she said. "They feel lighter when they go away. Whatever they leave, they leave it here."

A fatigue shirt with a wedding ring in the pocket, a solid-gold belt buckle, packs of cigarettes, a bottle of Coca-Cola and toilet tissue all are among items left at the wall. While it might not make sense to onlookers, there is always an explanation, Anderson said.

She thought perhaps the toilet tissue and Coke bottle were left by mistake, but her husband explained those items were the two things hardest to get during the war. "Somebody left those for his buddies," she said.

Anderson hopes that local veterans groups will gather whatever might be left at the wall and create a display. She encourages veterans to use the displays when talking to schoolchildren.

The wall has something for everyone but particularly for children. "It's important that they know what happened so that it doesn't happen again," she said.

Volunteers from Notre Dame Regional High School and the Southeast Missouri State University football team helped put up the display and stage area Wednesday. Most of those students weren't even born during the Vietnam era; whatever they've learned has been from history lessons, Clark-Bauer said.

If students now can learn about Vietnam and what happened there, maybe when they become the power brokers of the next generation they will think twice about sending a generation off to war, MacCubbin said.

At A Glance

The half-size replica of the national Vietnam Veterans Memorial is on display at Arena Park just off Kiwanis Drive. Visitors should enter from North Kingshighway. Parking is available in an adjacent field.

The wall exhibit is open 24 hours each day, and visitors are welcome. Special services planned during the four-day event:

Today

10 a.m. -- Opening ceremony at the wall, including commemorative service for POW and MIAs.

Friday

7 p.m. -- Wreath-laying ceremony with Honor Guard of Vietnam Veterans Group.

Saturday

1 p.m. -- Name-reading ceremony for local soldiers who died during the war. Zalma High School Readers Theatre will also present "Voices at the Wall."

Sunday

8 p.m. -- Candlelight ceremony with a procession by the VFW Post 3838 Ladies Auxiliary.

Monday

9:30 p.m. -- Memorial remembrance service. It will remain open until midnight.