Ceremony Planners Adjust for Veterans

Organizers are asking younger visitors to be indulgent, said Bill Line, a spokesman for the National Park Service, which will take over management of the memorial after the dedication. "Obviously, the World War II generation may not be able to move as fast as others. We would ask other people not of that age group to exercise extra patience in honor of" them, Line said. "This is their memorial."

Metro has factored that into its plans. Twenty-five of Metro's buses -- part of a fleet of 300 buses from across the region contracted to shuttle ticketed participants from Metrorail stations to the Mall -- were retrofitted to accommodate the disabled just for Saturday. Buses that normally have 42 seats instead will hold 15 wheelchairs, said Metro spokesman Steven Taubenkibel.

The "dwell" time -- the time that train doors remain open to allow passengers to exit and enter -- will be lengthened slightly Saturday, and rail car operators will make extra announcements to ensure that riders headed to the Mall are on the right train and get off at the appropriate stop, Taubenkibel said.

Emergency medical technicians, nurses and Metro Transit Police will be posted at key rail stations, as will Metro personnel hand-selling Farecards and handing out walking brochures.

"It's going to be an all-hands-on-deck effort from Metro on May 29," he said.

Multiple command centers involving law enforcement, transportation, emergency and medical personnel will be established. There will be nine medical stations on the Mall, each staffed with a doctor, two nurses and land lines in case cell phones don't work. And medical personnel also will be stationed around Washington National Cathedral, which will hold a 10 a.m. interfaith service to be televised on the Mall; at MCI Center, where a ticketed musical performance will be held, also at 10 a.m.; and at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, a staging area for buses bringing in participants.

The D.C. Department of Health will hand out fliers at Metro stations outlining heat stroke symptoms and will have a cadre of psychiatric social workers on call -- separate from the 30 grief counselors to be supplied by the Department of Veterans Affairs Readjustment Counseling Office. Ambulances will be parked along the Mall, and evacuation routes to nearby George Washington University Hospital and Georgetown University Hospital have been mapped.

U.S. Park Police and D.C. police have canceled leave for officers, and U.S. Capitol Police are contributing a large contingent to provide extra security for the event.

Even security measures have been adjusted for the age of the audience. The flow rate through metal detectors has been dropped to 250 people an hour from the usual 350. The three entry gates for ticketed participants will open at 8 a.m. for the 2 p.m. dedication, to give everyone enough time to get in. And there will be 40 lanes leading to security checkpoints along Independence Avenue and 60 more along Constitution Avenue to shorten the waits, said Sgt. Scott Fear, a Park Police spokesman.

Only those seated closest to the dedication ceremony stage, along 17th Street across the street from the World War II Memorial, will have to go through metal detectors. But everyone coming to the Mall -- ticketed or not -- will have to go through some level of security check, Fear said.

"We do a lot of major spectator events, and we aren't alarmed by the crowd size at all," said Acting U.S. Park Police Chief Dwight Pettiford. "My main concern is the safety of the individuals."