Ventura County Star - Printer-friendly story Mobile Vietnam memorial wall to come to Simi Valley By Michele Willer-Allred Tuesday, May 20, 2014 The names of 10 Simi Valley residents are listed among thousands on a mobile Vietnam Memorial Wall that will be transported from the Antelope Valley and put on display in Simi Valley beginning Thursday. The half-scale reproduction of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial will be displayed until May 28 at Rancho Tapo Community Park and Veterans Plaza. Simi Valley’s Salute to Arms organization and the Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District are hosting the mobile wall’s first appearance in Simi Valley. Visitors may visit the wall daily after an opening ceremony at 5 p.m. Thursday at Veterans Plaza, 3700 Avenida Simi. The wall, about 252 feet long and 6 feet tall, contains the engraved names of all 58,286 military personnel who died in the Vietnam War. It is managed and maintained by Point Man Antelope Valley. Cherie Whitaker, an event organizer, said Salute to Arms and the park district wanted to bring the wall to Simi Valley for the 50th commemoration of the Vietnam War. “The AV Wall organization will highlight our community’s lost heroes as well as all the others. It is meant to educate our children about the war and the wall and help heal our veterans,” Whitaker said. Simi Valley residents whose names are on the wall are Wayne Herschel Emerson, Gregory Allen Ervin, Michael Sheridan Garrett, Donald Lawrence Nelson, Conrad William Shaina, David William Ayers, Steffan Michael Fredsti, Michael Charles Jackson, Gregory Lawrence Martin and Edrick Kenneth Stevens. Beginning at 8 a.m. Thursday, a motorcycle escort with members of the Simi Valley Police Department and the Patriot Guard Riders will join transport of the wall by trailer from the Grand Vista Hotel to Veterans Plaza. Members of the public are asked to hold U.S. flags and line the streets along the route, which will run from Simi Town Center Way to Erringer Road, north to Alamo Street, and then down Tapo Canyon Road and Avenida Simi to Veterans Plaza. An opening ceremony with speakers and entertainment will start at 5 p.m. Thursday. “There will then be a 24-hour access to the wall, with displays and booths from local organizations that are all veteran- and military services-oriented. There will be point guards, staff, chaplains and counselors for all six days,” Whitaker said. Whitaker said information about services will be available to veterans. Whitaker said volunteers at the wall will help people find names and take rubbings. Military equipment from the Vietnam era also will be displayed. Whitaker said other military-related events are scheduled in conjunction with the wall’s visit and Memorial Day. On Friday, a fundraiser for local veterans organizations will feature dancing and an auction at the Arena Sports Bar and Grill, 999 Enchanted Way. A candlelight vigil will begin at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Veterans Plaza. Vietnam veterans will share war experiences and what the wall means to them. A Memorial Day ceremony will begin at 10 a.m. Monday at El Rancho Pioneer Cemetery. At the ceremony, Gene Hostetler, a Vietnam veteran from Simi Valley, will be honored as Veteran of the Year. Afterward, local veterans will be treated to lunch at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 480 Sinaloa Road. A closing ceremony will take place at 5 p.m. Tuesday. The wall will remain open until 8 a.m. May 28, when it will be taken back to the Antelope Valley.
Posted on: Wed, 21 May 2014 07:14:10 +0000
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