Vet volunteers build Vietnam Wall at Amphitheater
The dozen volunteers working in chill wind and rain that swept the Antelope Valley, on Monday, dug dirt with their hands, sawed, drilled and sweated while one swung a sledgehammer, pounding stakes every few feet along a 256-foot length of lumber.
Few were younger than 60, and most were older than 70. On this day, they were volunteers, but in their youth, they were mostly drafted into the military or enlisted to avoid getting drafted. Most went to Vietnam anyway. They have lived nearly 50 years since the last time any American was conscripted for military service, the draft being a factor in that war’s controversial history.
On Monday, under supervision of Navy vet and engineer Glen Nester, the mostly amateur carpenters built the Mobile Vietnam Memorial Wall, a portable monument affectionately called “The AV Wall.” They labored in honor of the 58,281 Americans killed in one of America’s longest wars.
The AV Wall, a half-scale tribute of the Vietnam Memorial, will be on display at Marie Kerr Park’s Amphitheater, 24 hours daily, from Wednesday evening through Sunday night. Engraved on the black wall are names of the 58,281 Americans who were killed in Vietnam. At 11 a.m., on Veterans Day, Friday, Vietnam veterans will be honored with commemorative pins and all veterans will be recognized.
The guy pounding the sledgehammer like the mythical John Henry driving railroad spikes was Philip Waln. He was a combat infantry grunt in Vietnam with 1st Cav before he was a general contractor.
His work done, he stood up, brushed himself off and said, “I’ve got to go to the doctor.” It was a routine appointment.
In their youth, these guys jumped out of airplanes and helicopters — or they fell out of them scrambling for cover in landing zones hot with Viet Cong and North Vietnamese trying to kill them.
They were also men who fought fires on Navy ships and air crew who flew the angry skies of a war that lasted 20 years. See “We Were Soldiers,” a true-to-life movie that shows some of how it went.
There was no question among the dozen vets that they would finish their labor of love, building “the base” for the Wall. Chill wind blowing, rain gusting, they had seen their own fire and rain decades ago. There were no quitters here.
Why does this piece of wood and black paneling with names mean so much?
“The name of a buddy of mine from the 101st Airborne is on that wall,” Donnie Luga, a paratrooper grunt veteran, said.
Mike Bertell, a Vietnam draftee grunt, keeps faith with a dozen of his 101st Airborne buddies with names on the wall. He is the president of Point Man Antelope Valley, the nonprofit that cares for the Wall.
Today (Wednesday), a motorcycle escort of American Legion Riders joined by Patriot Guard Riders and others, will escort the AV
Wall’s 140 engraved panels on the short journey to the Palmdale Amphitheater. Tonight, the AV Wall opens to the public for its fiveday display, the first since 2019 because of the pandemic.
In another event, honors accrue to the late Vietnam vet R. Lee Ermey. Groundbreaking for his “musical road” will be 11 a.m., Thursday (the Marine Corps birthday), at the corner of Sierra Highway and Avenue N — aka R. Lee Ermey Avenue.
Ermey, a real-life Marine drill instructor, became the world’s most famous DI with his scary-smart role in Stanley Kubrick’s Vietnam war classic “Full Metal Jacket.”
When complete, a stretch of his namesake avenue will have road cuts that sound out “The Marine Corps Hymn” for motorists driving over them.
November is National Veterans and Military Families Appreciation Month, with ceremonies across the Antelope Valley on Veterans Day.