Traveling Vietnam War wall memorial, Field of the Fallen displays open Friday in West Dundee, Cary

“The Wall that Heals,” a replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, received a motorcycle escort through McHenry County Wednesday ahead of its display in West Dundee over Memorial Day weekend.

Motorcycles and first responder vehicles joined in the procession. Among them were Pat and Steve Nelson of Carpentersville.

Steve Nelson said he participated in a motorcycle escort three years ago, but Pat Nelson said it was her first time.

“It’s an amazing event,” Steve Nelson said. “Anything to honor the vets,” he added, also encouraging people to thank a veteran.

Bonnie Giannini and Liz Rasner didn’t participate in the procession but were there to support. “I thought it was nice,” Giannini said of the event, adding her uncle, David Daughters, served in Vietnam.

The processional departed at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Woodstock Harley Davidson following a ceremony and then traveled through Algonquin, Huntley, Lake in the Hills, Carpentersville and West Dundee, starting out south on Route 47, turning east onto Algonquin Road and then south on Randall Road to Randall Oaks Park in West Dundee. The wall will be on display Friday through Monday.

Volunteer training and setup of the tribute display, which contains the names of more than 58,000 Americans killed in the conflict, will take place Thursday, with the wall display debuting Friday and remaining open and free around the clock until 2 p.m. Monday, Memorial Day.

Special events during the weekend include a welcome home ceremony at 7 p.m. Friday, a medal of honor ceremony at 2 p.m. Saturday, a ceremony honoring nurses at 2 p.m. Sunday and a closing ceremony at 1:45 p.m. Monday.

The wall display is hosted by the group True Patriots Care and American Legion Post 679, based in West Dundee.

Separately, the Veterans Network Committee of Northern Illinois will host the Field of the Fallen at Three Oaks Road and Georgetown Drive in Cary this weekend.

The display honors fallen service members from Illinois with a flag display, and members of the committee will stand watch over the field around the clock throughout the weekend “to ensure that these heroes are never forgotten.” During the weekend, a list of names from the display will be read aloud every hour on the hour. An opening ceremony is planned for 6 p.m. Friday and a closing ceremony takes places 5 p.m. on Monday.