COAL TOWNSHIP - Some $5,000 has been raised to pay for a visit by the Vietnam Memorial Moving Wall next year, but more is needed to build a platform to hold the wall and to pay for a program.
Organizer Sol Bidding, a member of the Soldiers Circle Marine Corps League, said $3,500 is needed for the form and $1,300 for the program, which will contain local advertising, donor lists and information on local heroes who paid the supreme sacrifice.
The wall will be erected at the playground/soccer field complex in Tharptown and will be open to the public from May 29 through the late afternoon of June 2.
All donations will be used toward the project and organizers will provide a report on spending to be printed in The News-Item. There can be no profit from the collections, so any remaining money must be given to the organization that takes the two moving walls around the country each year.
Anyone wishing to donate money, time or materials can send their check or information to (NCCAH) Northumberland County Council for the Arts and Humanities, c/o Garth Hall, 1113 N. Franklin St., Shamokin.
Honor guards needed
Also still needed are veterans willing to serve as honor guards at the wall. They will be on duty for just one hour at a time, not four or five as been mistakenly rumored, Bidding said. Call him at 274-5298 to schedule times and get information on proper attire.
Members of Post 846 of the Marine Corps League will serve on May 31, but honor guard members are needed for May 29 and 30 and June 1 and 2.
The wall will be up by May 29 and will be disassembled late in the afternoon of June 2.
The Moving Wall is the half-size replica of the Washington, D.C., Vietnam Veterans Memorial and has been touring the country since 1982. It was created by John Devitt, a Vietnam veteran who attended the 1982 dedication in Washington of the actual memorial and felt the positive power of "The Wall." He vowed to share that experience with those who did not have the opportunity to go to Washington.
It went on display for the first time in Tyler, Texas, in October 1984. Two structures of The Moving Wall now travel the nation from April through November, spending about a week at each site.