The Traveling Vietnam Memorial Wall is coming to Veterans Park in Peru. The Peru Memorial Veterans Group is looking for volunteers to help set up the 282 foot wall on Thursday, August 24th and take it down on August 28th. Peru American Legion Commander Dennis Znaniecki says the group is looking for sponsors and volunteers to take down and set up the replica wall when it shows up. He says the idea of bringing the wall to Peru came up when some of the members of the American Legion were going on an Honor Flight to see the real wall. He says the last time it was in Peru was in 2000 where the Rural King is now.
Znaniecki says he also wants to set up a donation bucket when the wall is set up to help buy a new van for the LaSalle veterans’ home He says the group bought the home a van in 2020 before the pandemic hit. Now that the pandemic is over, there are new rules for what a van needs to look like. The price for a new van has also gone up.
He says volunteers need to be at least 18 years old. Not only will volunteers set up the wall, they need at least two people to stand guard to watch the wall when it’s in the park. Anyone interested can contact him at 815-830-0340 or by email at znanieckid@hotmail.com. There will also be a replica of the Middle East Conflict Wall in Marseilles and a wall dedicated to 911 First Responders at the event in August.