Continuing a tradition that began in 2013, the Traveling Vietnam Wall Memorial is back in Sturgis for the 82nd Motorcycle Rally, which begins Friday and runs 10 days through Sunday the 14th
The 80% scale replica of the memorial in Washington, DC, is set up next to the Field of Flags at the Buffalo Chip Campground.
Supervisor Wesley Shivers says traveling with the Wall to Sturgis is one of the assignments staff “kind of fight” to get, calling it a good two week vacation with a chance to ride through the Black Hills and up to Rushmore and over to Devil’s Tower’
While the Traveling Wall is a little smaller, it contains every name etched on the original. Shivers says everyone who visits the Traveling Wall is moved, especially those who served in Vietnam
Also on display at the Buffalo Chip is the Cost of Freedom Exhibit, honoring U-S sacrifices during the 20th and 21st centuries. Both tributes will be through the end of the Rally a week from Sunday on August 14.
While officials won’t make predictions on the size of this year’s Rally, the unofficial consensus is that the numbers should be good – possibly higher than last year’s 550,000.
That was the second-highest attendance in the last 20 years, trailing only the 750,000 for the 75th Anniversary Rally in 2015.