Preparations for memorial are 'on track'

SIKESTON -- Having prior experience in hosting The Moving Wall, Firebase Sikeston is once again ready to serve as hosts for some moving experiences.

"We're well on track to having everything ready," Tom Austin, Firebase Sikeston's chairman, confirmed Friday. "I'm extremely pleased with the way things have gone."

The Moving Wall, a traveling half-size replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., will be set up Thursday morning at Rotary Park in roughly the same place it was at in 1991.

"The base for the Wall was installed on Wednesday," Austin said.

The National Guard will put up tents at each end of the Wall on Tuesday, according to Austin, and David Bizzell of Bizzell Lawn Care is on pace to finish the landscaping by Wednesday.

"He's been a godsend," Austin said, adding that the community as a whole has done an excellent job of preparing for the Wall's arrival. "There are not enough compliments for all the help and resources that have been donated. It has just been phenomenal. I am very proud to live in Sikeston."

Austin said he expects The Moving Wall to be open to the public at 1 p.m. Thursday and remain open until 4 p.m. Monday. "It will be open 24 hours per day, every day," he said.

For the complete article and more stories from the Standard Democrat, click here to log on to the electronic edition.