LEWISTON – Alan Willette of Durham walked backward in front of a group of students, his right hand tracing the memorial wall, keeping him on track while he explained its significance.

He reached the year 1968 on the wall, the middle point of his service in Vietnam but the last quarter of the wall. It’s an important thing for the kids to keep in mind, he said.

“We figured we’d won the war back in 1968,” Willette said. But things changed, and the war dragged on until 1975 and the casualties continued to mount. The names of those killed were written on the wall behind him.

“Vietnam veterans, we weren’t really welcomed back,” Willette said. “Not right away, at least. We had to go a long way before we were welcomed home.”

People need to understand that, he said. That’s why having the replica wall in Lewiston is so important.

The wall officially opened to the public at dawn this morning, but organizers and volunteers invited schoolchildren to be the first to visit it Thursday.

Organizers expect between 30,000 and 40,000 people by the time the memorial closes Sunday afternoon, according to L&A Veterans Council Chairman Bert Dutil.

The wall, 8 feet tall and 240 feet long, is a replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. The replica is spread along the western side of Veterans Memorial Park at the edge of the Androscoggin River below Great Falls.

It was brought to Lewiston by national funeral home chain Service Corporation International and its Lewiston-Auburn affiliate, the Fortin Group. The company takes the wall to 20 cities a year, at no cost to the communities.

Dozens of volunteers have signed on to help. They give tours, talk about the history of the Vietnam conflict and explain the wall. Another group sits at computer terminals along the walkway before the wall. They’re ready to look up names of the war’s casualties and help family members and friends find them on the wall.

Visitors on Thursday included busloads of middle and high school students from most nearby schools and all grades from Lewiston’s McMahon Elementary. That school was named for Thomas J. McMahon, a Lewiston native who was killed in Vietnam on March 19, 1969. Several students used pencil and paper to get rubbings of his name as they walked along.

“Most the students understand that Vietnam was a war, and they might have grandparents that served there,” said McMahon sixth-grade teacher Tim Smith. “But they don’t know a bunch about it. This is a good opportunity for them to learn.”

Marc Lepage, an eighth-grade teacher at Trinity Catholic School, said his students will begin a section on the Vietnam conflict later this year.

“But there’s no way we’ll get the opportunity to visit the real wall then, so this is a fantastic opportunity,” he said.

Schedule for Vietnam Veterans Memorial replica in Lewiston

Friday

Dawn: Opens to the public

1 p.m.: Opening ceremony, featuring speakers and a U.S. Navy flyover

3 p.m.: Reading of the names of Maine people on the wall

Saturday

Open all day and night

1 p.m.: Remembrance ceremony with wreath-laying and Gold Star mothers and wives

3 p.m.: Reading of the names of Maine people on the wall

6:30 p.m.: Candlelight service

Sunday

1 p.m.: Closing ceremony

3 p.m.: Reading of the names of Maine people on the wall

3:30 p.m.: Closed