Butler VA Center Hosts Vietnam Memorial Wall Through Sunday

CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP, PA — Veterans of the Vietnam War and their families are gathering in Butler this weekend to view the traveling Vietnam Memorial Wall, a mockup of the wall in Washington, D.C., etched with the names of the fallen, according to a media report. The traveling exhibit gives people who cannot travel to the nation's capital an opportunity to pay their respects to those who died in the war.

A contingent of around 1,000 motorcycle riders, including the Butler County American Legion Riders, escorted the traveling wall on Wednesday to the Butler VA hospital, WTAE-TV Action News 4 reported.

The memorial procession and the motorcycles stopped in Cranberry Township for a ceremony as a flag-waving crowd watched, according to the township's Facebook page.

The memorial wall will be on display in Butler until 3 p.m. Sunday, WTAE-TV reported.

The wall will be open to the public and available for viewing 24 hours around the clock, with ceremonies taking place Friday and Saturday, according to a news release from Butler County. The speakers include Vietnam veterans and MASH nurses.

The last ceremony is scheduled to take place in a sunrise service at 7 a.m. Sunday. The guest speaker will be Rocky Bleier, the former Pittsburgh Steelers great and Vietnam veteran. For a schedule of ceremonies, please click here.

To see a video of Wednesday's ceremony and parade in Cranberry, check out the township's Facebook page here.

Image: Motorcycle riders pause for a ceremony Wednesday during a procession to escort the traveling Vietnam memorial wall (Cranberry Township).