Just in time for Independence Day, a symbol sacred to Americans will arrive in DeRidder today starting at noon until July 7. Admission is free of charge and on-site security will be provided the entire duration.

An opening ceremony will be held tonight at 7 p.m. and the POW-MIA ceremony will be Sunday, July 6, at 7 p.m. 

Cole-Miers VFW Post 3619 and the Ladies Auxiliary, DeRidder city employees, Louisiana National Guard Soldiers, and other veterans and volunteers assisted with countless hours of work in preparation for The Moving Wall.

Referring to his dedication as a "labor of love," Terry Courville traveled from Kinder, LA to volunteer with the preparations and display of the memorial. "The wall is a tombstone to our brothers and sisters who paid the ultimate sacrifice.  It's our way of visiting their tomb," Courville said.

Courville is a member of the Vietnam Veterans of America, Inc. Chapter 215.  He and several other members of his chapter travel to sites in Louisiana and Texas where the wall makes an appearance, to volunteer with the efforts.   

The Moving Wall is the half-size replica of the Washington, DC, Vietnam Veterans Memorial.   According to Vietnam Combat Services, Ltd., the organization that owns and maintains The Moving Wall, it has toured the country for more than twenty years. 

When Vietnam Veteran John Devitt attended the 1982 dedication in Washington, he felt the positive power of "The Wall." He vowed to share that experience with those who did not have the opportunity to go to the nation's capitol and experience it for themselves, so he and other Vietnam veteran volunteers built The Moving Wall. It made its debut in 1984 in Tyler, TX.

There are 882 Louisiana veterans listed on The Moving Wall. Eight of those veterans are from DeRidder.

The wall is being brought to the DeRidder area by the Cole-Miers VFW Post 3619 and the Ladies Auxiliary.