Dignity Memorial Vietnam Wall

Yesterday I volunteered as the photographer for the arrival of the Dignity Memorial
Vietnam Wall at Rose Hills Memorial Park & Mortuary. From their web site here, "the wall is a ¾-scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., inscribed with 58,261 names belonging to men and women who served and sacrificed for our nation."

I doubt many people would argue about the politics and justification of that war. Some of you may not even have been around when it was occurring. Even so, many people forget or simply don't realize that there was a draft then and many of those that served did not have a choice in their involvement.  The point is, this isn't about the politics it is about honoring the ones that didn't come back home.

A lot of people participated, volunteered and came to be a part of the arrival.  The L.A. County Fire Department, Police, and many motorcycle rider groups escorted the truck carrying the wall all the way in from Indio. 

There was a short ceremony before construction of the wall began. A purple heart was donated from a family who had lost a member. This was symbolic of the one that now resides within the original wall in Washington D.C.

Each of the names on the Wall will be read aloud with the help of volunteers from our community while it is in Whittier. The Wall will be the centerpiece of a weeklong program of special events held at Rose Hills Memorial Park, and will be open for visitation 24 hours a day. It was and will be a very relaxed and casual event.

 The actual opening ceremony takes place on March 23rd at 3:00pm. The wall will then be open to the public 24 hours a day until March 30th. If you haven't seen the original Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall or even if you have, its worth stopping by Rose Hills in Whittier and viewing the  Dignity Memorial Vietnam Wall . I'll be there Tuesday through Thursday in the late afternoons.