THOMASTON — For five days over Memorial Day Weekend, the Knox Museum in Thomaston will receive an estimated 13,000 visitors to a weekend of quiet reflection, live Vietnam-era music, and education. For those visitors, for the museum, and for Maine veterans, the community is giving of themselves. Support has come in dollar signs great and small, material donations, food, and physical labor. Some of it required, some asked for, and some — just because.

The Moving Wall, one of several replicas of the monument in Washington ,D.C., heads to the Knox Museum in Thomaston for five days over Memorial Day Weekend.

Police will hand off the Wall at each county line of Sagadahoc, Lincoln, and Knox along Route 1 from Bath to Thomaston between 8 and 9 a.m. Thursday, May 26. Though construction is anticipated along the route, the Wall will have priority and two-way traffic will be allowed, according to the museum’s Executive Director Tobin Malone. 

If the weather is nice, as many as 500 motorcycle riders may join the convoy.

I know a guy...

“Well, I know a guy...” is a common phrase spoken during the Moving Wall preparation meetings at the General Henry Knox Museum in Thomaston, according to Malone. At those meetings, the 30-member committee, which has met twice per month since October, decides how to honor the strict 30-page contract set by the Moving Wall establishment.

In one case, a conversation at the Wiscasset American Legion between a Wiscasset veteran and a Home Depot employee, turned to Thomaston’s upcoming five-day Memorial Weekend event. Home Depot, according to Malone, employs a high percentage of veterans. Being one himself, the employee listened to the need for a stage in front of Montpelier at a rental cost of $6,000. He recommended applying for a company grant.

“Home Depot, If we get this grant, will bring 50 veterans over here with the material, and will build it onsite for us,” Malone said.

Vietnam Veterans

The Moving Wall requires 24-hour professional counseling. In response, the Veterans Administration Center is coming with a 27-foot mobile vehicle with the counselors ready to assist at any hour.

The committee has gotten a lot of support from the Maine veteran’s organizations and the Bureau of Veteran’s Services because of the estimated 46,000 Vietnam Veterans residing in Maine. According to Malone, the state is in the top three of per capita where Vietnam vets live.

“And of that 46,000, a very small percentage have been identified by any of the veterans organizations in Maine,” said Malone, who reasoned that the Vietnam generation was not the kind to stand in line and wait to be counted.

“They think, of those 46,000, that a huge proportion of them live in the Midcoast.”

Many of them are not known as vets until the last weeks of their lives, when they show up at Togus, and therefore have never known of the resources available to them. For this reason, a portion of the Memorial Day event includes workshops specifically to educate these services.

All you need to do is ask

For the ADA-compliant walkway needed in front of the 272-foot Moving Wall, someone considered the Maine State Prison Store.

“It occurred to us, ‘Well, they have wood. They have a workshop, and they have guys,’ so we thought, you know, maybe we should ask them,’” she said.

So they invited Ken Lindsey, manager of the store, to a meeting. The inmates are now at work building the walkway. 

Central Maine Power donated and installed three poles, put the fixtures on top, and is paying for the electricity for the 24-hour, five-day event.

The Knox County Sheriff’s Office is bringing its air-conditioned mobile vehicle, which can be used if a guest gets overheated, according to Malone. The sheriff’s office is also providing volunatary manpower at times.

Big Al’s in Wiscasset, donated 5,000 paper meal plates for volunteers and Boots on the Ground attendees. 

And sometimes the donations come unsolicited

Tom Wilbur, of Wilbur’s of Maine chocolate company in Freeport, contacted Malone at random. He expressed a desire to make a chocolate bar wrapper specifically to honor the event. Wilbur, a Vietnam Veteran, then sent a case of chocolate wrapped in the design of the Vietnam ribbon of yellow, green, and red.

Reporting for Duty

Along with the phrase “I know a guy” is the phrase “Reporting for Duty.”

“The Portland Sea Cadets called up and said, ‘We have 40 Sea Cadets reporting for duty,’” Malone said. They will spend two nights at the Episcopal Church, while spending their days picking up trash or whatever task is needed.

The crew of the USS Zumwalt reported for duty, as well as a boy scout troop out of Topsham.

The boy scout and cub scout troops of Thomaston has also reported. Malone has been inviting them to the annual Boots on the Ground event for four years. They were always busy with parades and such. This year, however, the troop leader called Malone.

“She said, ‘Well, you know, the boys’ parents are starting to call me up and say I want my kid involved in that wall,’” Malone said.

Still needed

Committee members underestimated the wooden pathways required on the property. The State Prison has already ordered the supplies needed for their assignment.

Although hundreds of children already plan to attend, many schools do not have funds for transportation. One volunteer has committed to paying for some transportation, but Malone wants thousands of children to attend on Thursday and Friday, not hundreds.

Meals are required for all volunteers during all shifts, as well as the Boots ceremony. Bowden Eggs has donated 200 eggs. Market Basket, Dominoes, Subway, and Thomaston Grocery have promised donations. However, any dinner foods will be accepted. Click here to see the entire list of sponsors.

Even with donations and free labor, Malone estimates a $75,000 budget. Fundraising continues with the April 30 benefit at the Highlands, yet more capital is needed.

Parking is extremely limited. Therefore, most visitors and volunteers will need transportation from satellite lots. Vans and volunteer van drivers are needed.

One hundred and forty-six volunteers are needed per 24 hours. Click here to view volunteer task.

Know before you go

All visitors are required to sign in by name. Simply keeping a tally of visitors is not an option for the Moving Wall organization.

No one is allowed to view the Wall while ceremonies are conducted. Therefore, check times before making the trek.

No political speeches are allowed.

No commercialization is allowed.

Other notes of interest

Why estimate 13,000? A previous intern for the Knox Museum researched how many visitors attended previous Moving Wall locations in Maine’s history. Somehow the average came back to 13,000 every time.

Why will the 35-member Medomak Valley High School chorus be singing Bruce Springsteen’s Born in the U.S.A.? The song lyrics speak of a boy in a small town who is drafted during Vietnam.

According to Malone, members of the public have been attending committee meetings. At one meeting, a former army vet stated his involvement during the Tet Offensive. A Navy vet stood up, announced that he was also there and was lobbing the grenades that kept the army safe.

The photo exhibit Blood, Dust, and Mud came from a Vietnam nurse assigned to create a M.A.S.H unit in 1966. One of the attendees of a committee meeting happened to be another nurse, whose assignment in 1971 was to dismantle the same M.A.S.H unit.

To reach Sarah Thompson send email to news@penbaypilot.com