IMPORTANT LESSON—Adam Lunstrum, a member of Boy Scout Troop 127, carries a lit candle along the replica Vietnam Wall during a candlelight ceremony last Saturday in Westlake Village. All 58,000 names on the wall were read aloud over the weekend during the memorial’s three-day stay. An ongoing stream of visitors came to Westlake Village over Labor Day weekend to pay tribute to those who lost their lives in the Vietnam War.

A three-quarter-scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., spent four days at Pierce Brothers Valley Oaks Memorial Park. From Sept. 4 through 7, it was open to the public around the clock. Hundreds of volunteers, taking 15minute shifts each, read aloud the more than 58,000 names on the wall, including their military branch and rank.

Friends and relatives of the soldiers, nurses and others killed or missing in action shared memories and sentiments, leaving mementos, flowers, photographs, poems and American flags at the base of the 8foothigh, 240-foot-long memorial. On Monday all of the mementos were placed in a time capsule and buried at Pierce Brothers.

REMEMBERING FRIENDS—Howard Hill, a member of Moorpark High School class of 1968, came to the replica Vietnam Wall at Pierce Brothers Valley Oaks Memorial Park to record the names of classmates who died in the conflict in Southeast Asia. “You realize every one of those names was a person with a family and how many people were impacted by that death,” said Janet Robertson of Oak Park, who volunteered to read names along with her husband, Scott. “It’s very emotional to see what people left below and to know somebody visited the wall or that person.”

Vietnam veteran Mike Fujinaga wanted to pay homage to his buddies who were killed in the conflict that ran throughout the ’60s and early ’70s. For the Newbury Park resident, who has never visited the permanent memorial, the traveling version offered him an opportunity to remember one friend in particular, Larry Gene “Leo” Leopoldino.

The two friends were the only Hawaiians in their Army platoon. Leopoldino was killed by a sniper in 1969, three months into his tour of duty. A water bottle filled with flowers marked the spot below the panel containing Leopoldino’s name.

“I have a few buddies on the wall who were killed in 1969,” Fujinaga said. “They’ll always be young.”

Westlake Village resident Patty Smith stood by panel 45 holding a pencil rubbing she’d made of the name of family friend Michael E. Constantine, who was killed in action. Overwhelmed by the sight of so many names, Smith had help from volunteers in finding Constantine’s name.

“Once you see the name you’re drawn to, it pops out at you,” said Smith, whose brother, a Simi Valley resident, was a Marine in Vietnam.

Each name was marked with a symbol—a star signified killed in action, body recovered; a cross meant missing in action, body not recovered. Eight women’s names are on the wall, seven Army nurses and an Air Force nurse; 16 chaplains’ names are listed, as is that of Daniel Bullock, believed to be the youngest American casualty of the war at age 15. Bullock forged his birth certificate and entered the Marines at age 14.

Members of Boy Scout Troop 754 of Newbury Park helped direct visitors. The boys camped out on Friday night with plans to do morning cleanup around the memorial.

“I didn’t really know that much about the war, but today I learned that it really was an important war,” said Boy Scout Christopher Fields, 12, who held a flashlight for nighttime visitors along with fellow Scout Francesco Antinoro, 12.

Sponsored by the Dignity Memorial Network, the replica was created in 1990 to honor the men and women of the U.S. military and to allow Americans nationwide to experience the exhibit.

The monument has been in 200 cities, sponsored by a local Dignity Memorial provider, with support from local veterans and civic groups and businesses.

The memorial arrived on Wed., Sept. 2, accompanied from Bakersfield by a motorcade of veterans and others that included 315 motorcycles.

The monument will next be on display in Phoenix.

Dan Smith III and his wife, Gail, helped coordinate the exhibit. Smith, who is from Riverside, spent 1968-70 as a Marine in Vietnam. He said the names of many of his friends are on the wall.

“Vietnam was controversial from the start. The men and women who fought there were looked down upon, and a lot of Vietnam veterans are still suffering. All they did is follow orders.”