UPDATE
EAST PEORIA, Ill. – A closing ceremony at the Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall will begin at noon Sunday.
The Memorial Wall, a 3/5th scale replica of the memorial in Washington D.C., has been on display in East Peoria’s Levee Park, just outside East Peoria City Hall, since Wednesday.
The Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall’s appearance in East Peoria was funded through donations which also benefited the Greater Peoria Honor Flight.
The closing ceremony will include retirement of the colors and the playing of Taps by trumpeter Lt. Col. Bryan Miller of the Illinois National Guard.
Volunteers will begin disassembling the Memorial Wall at 2 p.m. Sunday.
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EAST PEORIA, Ill. – The Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall arrived in East Peoria on Wednesday morning, accompanied by a formal motorcycle escort.
The memorial will be on display Wednesday, September 25 through Saturday, September 29 in Levee Park, located at 401 W. Washington Street.
This is the second time East Peoria has hosted the traveling wall. The last time was in 2020.
The Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall will be open for viewing 24 hours a day, rain or shine. Admission to the display is free. Volunteers will be available to answer questions, and to help locate soldiers’ names.
The memorial is a 3/5th-scale replica of the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C. It’s 6-feet tall at the center and is almost 300 feet long. There are 58,272 names on the traveling wall, the same number as on the wall in Washington, D.C.
An opening ceremony will happen on Thursday, September 26 at 11 a.m., and a closing ceremony will be held on September 29 at noon.
The Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall’s appearance in East Peoria is funded through donations which also benefit the Greater Peoria Honor Flight.
During the wall’s appearance in East Peoria, a group of Central Illinois veterans who cannot make it to Washington, D.C. by plane will be brought to the traveling wall, and other area monuments, so they can have a similar experience as those traveling with the Honor Flight.
To learn more about the Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall, click HERE.
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