File Photo Rick Stanley, a volunteer at the Vietnam Memorial Traveling Wall in 2018 at City Park, helps Karlee Mace find a service member on the wall. The exhibit, which arrives at City Park this afternoon where it will be erected, will be on display from Thursday to Sunday.

PARKERSBURG — The American Veterans Traveling Tribute Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall will arrive today at City Park in Parkersburg after a lengthy procession from Williamstown.

The exhibit, a scaled-down replica of the Vietnam War memorial in Washington, D.C., will be erected Thursday morning, open at noon Thursday and remain open around the clock until noon Sunday.

The Memorial Wall will leave the Williamstown Visitors Center on 1-77 at about 3 p.m. with an escort and arrive at City Park at about 5 p.m. For anyone wanting to participate in the procession from Williamstown, the escort will gather around 2:30 p.m. today at the Visitors Center, organizer Bill Shepherd said.

“Just show up and get in line,” Shepherd said.

About 100 members of the Patriot Guard motorcycle riders and other veteran motorcycle clubs from Parkersburg and Marietta will be in the procession, Shepherd said.

File Photo A Table of Remembrance was placed near the Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall in 2018 at City Park. The wall will be on display from Thursday to Sunday and will arrive this afternoon at City Park.

The route from the visitors center will go through Williamstown on Highland Avenue to West Virginia 14 to Vienna, continue to Parkersburg on Murdoch Avenue to Ohio Avenue to Garfield Avenue, 19th Street to Dudley Avenue, Dudley Avenue to Washington Avenue to the Park Avenue entrance to City Park, Shepherd said.

“This is going to be a long procession,” Shepherd said.

The Memorial Wall will be installed at 8 a.m. Thursday by volunteers who are needed for both setting up on Thursday morning and tearing down on Sunday afternoon.

The Memorial Wall will open to the public at noon Thursday.

Two locator tents where people can get help finding the name of a soldier on the wall will be placed at convenient locations at each end of the wall, said Patsy Greiner, an organizer of the volunteers needed for those locator tents.

“We will help locate them on the wall,” she said.

Staff from Jan Dils Attorney at Law will man a locator tent, Greiner said.

Needed are about 25 volunteers, enough so they can be scheduled without having to there the entire day, she said.

The exhibit will be open around the clock, but locator tents will be open noon to 9 p.m. Thursday, 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 8 a.m. to noon Sunday, Greiner said.

To volunteer for the locator tent call 304-483-8296 or 740 516-7800.

The Memorial Wall will be open until noon Sunday.

A non-denominational church service will be held at 1 p.m. at the wall, but will be moved to the Pavilion in the event of inclement weather. Participants are advised to bring their own chairs.

Tear down of the wall will start at noon Sunday, for which volunteers are needed. To volunteer for set up, tear down and around-the-clock security (no firearms permitted), call Shepherd at 304 480-1067.

As many volunteers as possible will be needed, Shepherd said

“We can use all the help we can get,” he said.

The Memorial Wall is the largest and at 360 feet long, is about 80% of the size of the wall in Washington, Shepherd said.

“We got a lot of parts to put together,” he said.

Jess Mancini can be reached at jmancini@newsandsentinel.com.