VIETNAM MEMORIAL TO VISIT CAPE GIRARDEAU THIS WEEK

A tattered bear, a well-worn baseball glove, a faded photograph these and other mementos placed alongside The Wall, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial at Washington, D.C., help many bridge the final gap to peace. And the ability to lovingly trace a name among the 58,219 names etched on the structure is the closure many people need.

The mere mention of Vietnam brings a variety of responses from the men and women who served from the late '50s to the '70s. Some are unable to talk about their experiences, while others share readily.

"I was drafted into service," said Charles Thrower of Cape Girardeau, who received a Purple Heart during his 1970-71 tour in Vietnam.

"I served my country like they asked," he said. By his return a lottery system had been put into effect and he feels fortunate his five younger brothers did not have to face the grim visage of war.

"A place to be happy, sad, proud and ashamed, but most of all the main feeling is that those lost now have a place to be recognized," said Bert Lehman, a Cape Girardeau Vietnam veteran, in describing The Wall That Heals, a half-scale traveling replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. which travels around the country and will be on display from April 20 to 24 at Arena Park at Cape Girardeau. Lehman will participate in a POW/MIA wreath laying ceremony while the exhibit is in Cape Girardeau.

Nearly 2.5 million visitors make their pilgrimage to The Wall in Washington each year, and thousands are expected to visit the traveling memorial's Easter weekend visit to Cape Girardeau.

For the soldiers whose names are inscribed on The Wall, the traveling replica allows those heroes to return to the places they called home and to exist once again in familiar surroundings.

"The Wall is very spiritual to me," said Floyd Smith, a veteran, though not of Vietnam. "We lost so many boys to something we didn't understand at the time."

Smith feels the exhibit is a way of making the American people more aware of what the members of the armed forces went through to preserve freedom.

Fletcher Chasteen, chaplain of VFW Post 3838, is a World War II veteran but understands the importance of the memorial.

"I think it is an outlet, a release for many people to get the recognition they didn't get during the Vietnam War," he said. Chasteen also sees the traveling exhibit as a benefit to the community.

The Wall That Heals "is a centering point for the community to come together to recognize the events of the time," Chasteen said.

Ceremonies are scheduled throughout the week-long visit. Mayor Al Spradling III will be guest speaker at the opening ceremony at 10 a.m. Thursday. Military color guards from the area will also participate.

A wreath-laying ceremony will be conducted at 7 p.m. Friday.

The Zalma High School Readers Theater will present "Voices at the Wall: Listen and Remember" at 1 p.m. Saturday. During this event, the local soldiers whose names appear on The Wall will be recognized in a name-reading ceremony. At 5 p.m. Saturday, the Shawnee District Boy Scouts of America will conduct a flag presentation and memorial service. The VFW Post 3838 Ladies Auxiliary will host a candlelight ceremony at 8 p.m. Sunday.

The Wall That Heals, the 250-foot replica of the wall in Washington, D.C., travels across America. Since its 1996 Veterans Day dedication, nearly 100 United States cities have been visited. The Four Provinces of Ireland were visited in the spring of 1999.

The exhibit will close at 9:30 p.m. Monday with a memorial service.

The Wall That Heals will be open 24 hours a day from 10 a.m. Thursday to 10 a.m. Tuesday. Accompanying the display will be an information center and museum that displays memorabilia left at The Wall in Washington.

The exhibit, which is free to the public, is being brought to the City by the City of Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitors Bureau. The American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Vietnam Veterans Group will assist with local volunteers and services.

For more information, contact the Convention and Visitors Bureau at 335-1631 or (800) 777-0068.