Motorcycles escort Memorial Wall Led by State Police motorcycles with sirens wailing, a replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial rolled through Gray and New Gloucester. In front of the truck carrying the memorial and behind it thundered a phalanx of motorcycles estimated to number around (Photo Nathan Tsukroff)

And you'd have experienced an emotion you might not have expected.

Just after noon, led by State Police motorcycles with sirens wailing, a replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial rolled through Gray and New Gloucester. In front of the truck carrying the memorial and behind it thundered a phalanx of motorcycles estimated to number around 2,000. Behind the procession, which was supposed to travel at 50 miles an hour but looked to be exceeding that, came a huge jam of cars and trucks.

The 240-foot memorial will be on display at Veterans Park in Lewiston starting Friday and remaining on view through Sunday.

The replica was created in order to allow veterans, their families and others a chance to see and touch the memorial to the 58,193 men and women who gave their lives in Vietnam. It has traveled to more than 1,000 cities and towns in the United States. Nearly 350 of the names on the wall are those of Mainers. The original wall is on permanent display in Washington, D.C.

The motorcycles were ridden by all kinds of people: big leather-clad, tough-looking men; young women; couples. They represented every kind of cycle you've ever seen: choppers, glistening Harleys, Hondas with sidecars and some obviously home-built oddities. Somehow, from all these men and women on two or three wheels, came the impression of the pride in what they were doing. They waved back at the crowds that lined every overpass, sometimes with both hands off the handlebars. However cynical you might have been, it's hard to imagine that you didn't have a lump in your throat as you watched those thousands honor the men and women whose sacrifice brought such honor to our country.