THOMASTON — Knox Museum in Thomaston will host the Vietnam Combat Veterans' The Moving Wall for five days over Memorial Day weekend. The memorial wall, which is a half-scale replica of Maya Lin's original design located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., will be exhibited on the grounds of Montpelier from May 26 to May 31. Visiting hours will be 24 hours per day beginning on Thursday, May 26, at 1 p.m. and continuing through 8 a.m. on Tuesday, May 31, except during special ceremonies, noted below.

Admission is free, and all are encouraged to attend. Thirteen thousand people are expected to visit the memorial over the five-day period.

The Moving Wall – the first of its kind in 1984 – has been touring the country for over 30 years, offering thousands who would never have the chance to get to Washington, D.C., the opportunity to witness this important American monument. This is its first appearance in Midcoast Maine.

"When your organization is named after one of America's first soldiers and veterans, Henry Knox, you know the military are some of your main people, and you want to do whatever you can to honor them," says Knox Museum Executive Director Tobin Malone, in a news release, who has been lobbying for three years to bring the wall to Thomaston.

The Moving Wall stands 252 feet long and 6 feet tall and displays the names of 58,228 Americans who lost their lives in Vietnam; including 13 from Knox County, eight from Lincoln County, six from Waldo County and four from Sagadahoc County. In total, there are 343 Maine names inscribed on the memorial.

On Thursday, May 26, at 8 a.m., The Moving Wall will depart the Marriott Residence Inn in Bath, and proceed north on Route 1 to Knox Museum in Thomaston, led by the Vietnam Combat Veterans Motorcycle Association, and escorted by other motorcycles and police cruisers from Sagadahoc, Lincoln and Knox counties. Residents of Bath, Wiscasset, Waldoboro, Thomaston and all along the way are encouraged to come out and line Route 1 to show their support for the veterans.

The Moving Wall is scheduled to arrive at Knox Museum in Thomaston on Thursday, May 26 at 9 a.m., when it will be assembled and open to the public by 1 p.m. School groups are scheduled to visit on Thursday afternoon and all day Friday, along with the general public. Funds are available, by calling Knox Museum's Matthew Hansbury at 354-0885, to pay for school buses and drivers to transport school children to visit The Moving Wall.

The Moving Wall will be open for the public to visit and absorb 24 hours per day, except during the following ceremonies:

• On Thursday evening at 7 p.m., the public is invited to attend the Opening Ceremony, featuring the Maine Department of Corrections Color Guard, local dignitaries, Medomak Valley High School Chorus, brief remarks about the significance of bringing The Moving Wall to the Midcoast, laying of Wreaths Across America wreaths by uniformed members of each branch of the service and the Merchant Marine, and the reading of names of Mainers who gave their lives in Vietnam.

• On Friday at 1 p.m. veteran Read Rich, U.S. Navy, senior chief anti-submarine warfare operator, Korea and Vietnam, will lead a special POW/MIA Ceremony, featuring the Loring Job Corps Color Guard, to which the public is invited.

• On Saturday, May 28, at the Museum's fifth annual Boots on the Ground signature military event, Vincent Gabriel, well-known local Vietnam vet and front man for the band Blind Albert, will cover some of the better-known anthems from what has been called "the rock and roll" war, as well as perform some of his own moving first-person original songs about Vietnam, like Draft Card and Beneath the Shelter. Alongside Gabriel's rock band, conductor Janna Hymes and her 43-piece classical orchestra, Maine Pro Musica, with violin soloist Charles Dimmick, will perform orchestral renditions of Jim Morrison and The Doors' Riders on the Storm and Light My Fire, as well as Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings, with brief remarks in between from Vietnam combat veteran and former director of Maine's Bureau of Veterans Services retired Lt. Colo. Peter W. Ogden; 101st Airborne Division's 20th Chemical Detachment in Vietnam Commander Lt. Gen. Dennis Benchoff; and former Bates College history professor and veteran 1st Lt. Dr. Christopher Beam, U.S. Marine Corps, Vietnam, 1968-69. All Vietnam combat veterans are invited to sit on stage for the Boots on the Ground ceremony and be recognized for their service. The Maine State Honor Guard will present the colors.

Saturday's program begins with free hot dogs and hamburgers starting at 11 a.m., plus Jim Barstow's and Eureka Lodge's famous fish chowder and strawberry shortcake — while they last. A large crowd is expected, so visitors should plan to arrive early, have lunch and listen to the orchestra rehearse. At 12:30 p.m., Randall "Doc" Simonse, combat medic, Vietnam, 1971, will conduct the drawing for Maine's Disabled Vets Moose Hunt Permit Lottery. This program – as all others – will go on rain or shine. Visitors are advised to dress for the weather, and bring cushions, blankets and umbrellas, as needed. Bleacher and folding chair seating will be provided, as well as a tent if needed.

Also on Friday and Saturday, approximately between the hours of 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., representatives from the U.S. Department of Defense, 50th Year Vietnam Commemoration, and Knox Museum partner, will be onsite to distribute special service pins to Vietnam veterans.

• On Sunday, May 29, at 1 p.m., Suzanne Bushnell, president of the Garden Club Federation of Maine, will host a re-dedication ceremony for the Blue Star Memorial Highway marker, recently unearthed on the traffic island in front of Knox Museum. The Moving Wall will remain open during this ceremony, only.

At 2 p.m. on Sunday, a special ceremony for Gold Star families will be hosted by Adria Horn, director of Maine's Bureau of Veteran Services. Also as part of this ceremony a flag will be presented to the family of Medal of Honor Recipient, U.S. Army Spc.4 Thomas Joseph McMahon, of Lewiston. As always, the public is invited to attend.

The names of Maine's 343 men whose names appear on the memorial will be read in sunset ceremonies on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings. On Friday at 5 p.m. a seminar on Agent Orange and VA Medical Enrollment will be conducted by representatives of the VA for Vietnam veterans. On Saturday at 5 p.m. a seminar on PTSD and Combat Readjustment will be held. And on Sunday at 5 p.m. there will be a seminar on federal and state benefits. Additionally, a mobile 27-foot motor coach community outreach vehicle from the Department of Veterans Affairs Vet Center will be parked at Montpelier and staffed around the clock all week, providing outreach, and information and counseling to veterans and other visitors.

Inside Montpelier, and open on Thursday, 1-4 p.m.; Friday, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. and 2-5 p.m.; Saturday, 10 am-noon and 3-5 pm; Sunday, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. and 3-5 p.m.; and Monday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., is Knox Museum's special 2016 exhibition, funded by the Maine Humanities Council, and featuring U.S. Army Capt. Beth Parks' photographs from her deployment serving as a nurse in Vietnam, entitled Blood, Dust, & Mud. Operation Iraqi Freedom veteran and Knox Museum Collections Manager Matthew J. Hansbury has re-created a sense of Parks' "hooch," or living quarters, in the exhibition space, with the Corea resident providing some of her belongings from that time. Montpelier will also be open for free self-guided, walk-thru viewing during these same hours. Regularly scheduled docent-led tours of Montpelier commence on June 1 at 10 a.m.

• On Memorial Day — Monday, May 30 — a special 5 p.m. ceremony will honor all Maine's veterans of all America's wars, honoring everyone from Henry Knox in the American Revolution, to soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan today. American Legion State Commander Ronald A. Rainfrette will host Monday's program, featuring soloist Harry Grant, a reading from Maine Boy Goes to War by author Paul E. Marshall and a selection of patriotic music by Jo Anne Parker's Community Band.

Knox Museum emphasizes that The Moving Wall exhibition is a solemn occasion, designed to recognize the military of all generations, and in particular, those who gave their lives in Vietnam. The Moving Wall closes during ceremonies to maintain, as much as possible, a respectful and contemplative environment for those viewing the memorial. No commercial activity is allowed, and all programming is free and open to the public.

On-site parking at Montpelier is extremely limited, and is available strictly for speakers and drivers with handicapped plates, only. High Street will be closed to traffic all week. Visitors can be dropped off at the property near the front of Montpelier, or can park at the American Legion lot behind the business block in Thomaston, or in the rear parking lot at Flagship Cinemas, also in Thomaston, and ride the shuttle buses to and from Montpelier, leaving approximately every 30 minutes between noon and 9 p.m. on Thursday, and 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

For a complete schedule and details for parking, visit knomuseum.org.

For general information, visit The Moving Wall To Maine page on Facebook, call Knox Museum at 207-354-8062 or e-mail info@knoxmuseum.org. To volunteer, call Sandy Orluk at 354-7250 or Trish Smith at 354-2497.