Patriotic procession

The Vietnam Traveling Wall Memorial was escorted by a caravan of an estimated 400 motorcycles as it made its way to Operation LZ in Forest City over the weekend.  The hugely successful event was held to give an overdue welcome home to North Central Iowa Vietnam veterans.  Although the event was originally intended to cover nine counties, Vietnam veterans, friends and families from all over the county attended.  The Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall is a three-fifths scale of the Vietnam Memorial ion Washington D.C.  It stands six-feet tall and the center and covers almost 300-feet from end to end.  As of 2011, there are 58,272 names listed on the Wall, as it is on the memorial in Washington, D.C.  The Clear Lake Fire Department took its aerial ladder truck to Interstate 35 and used it to display a large American flag for the Wall and its caravan to pass under on its route to Forest City.-Reporter photo by Chris Barragy.