Motorcyclists escort Moving Wall
Aug. 25—HERMITAGE — More than 100 motorcycles took to the streets this morning to guide the Moving Wall to its destination in Hermitage.
The group of motorcyclists, most of them veterans, gathered at the Park Inn by Radisson in West Middlesex to escort the Moving Wall, a half-scale replica of the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C.
Accompanying the escort was the West Middlesex Volunteer Fire Department and police officers from Hermitage, Shenango Township, Jefferson, Farrell, Sharon, and the Mercer County Sheriff's Office.
The Moving Wall was escorted to 2690 E. State St., Hermitage, next to John Flynn Funeral Home, where volunteers began constructing the Moving Wall. It will be on display through Aug. 29, when the Moving Wall will be disassembled. The wall, which was in Ellwood City, Lawrence County, last week, will make a cross-country trip to Liberty Lake, Wash.
After escorting the Moving Wall, the motorcyclists gathered at the War of Terror Memorial at the Avenue of 444 Flags for a brief ceremony, which included recognizing Albert Gettings, Michael Marzano and Michael McLaughlin, Mercer County natives who were killed while serving overseas.
During the ceremony, Paul Chen, driver of the Moving Wall, led a group of more than 30 volunteers assembling the wall, a half-size replica of the National Vietnam War Memorial in Washington D.C.
The Moving Wall, like the national memorial, is inscribed with the names of more than 58,000 U.S. servicemen and women killed in action during the Vietnam War.
A full story will be in tomorrow's edition of The Herald.
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