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Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall opens Thursday

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Point Man Antelope Valley and the City of Palmdale will present the Mobile Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall for the Antelope Valley (AV Wall) on display from Thursday, Nov. 7-Tuesday, Nov. 12 at 8 a.m. at the Palmdale Amphitheater.

The public will have 24-hour access to the AV Wall while it is on display. An opening ceremony will be held Friday, Nov. 8 at 6 p.m. It will feature a multi-branch Jr.-ROTC Color Guard, led by Major Conrad Hernandez of Highland High School, and consisting of members from various schools in the  Antelope Valley Union High School District.

Guest speakers include Palmdale Mayor Jim Ledford and George Palermo, head of Point Man Antelope Valley. There will also be a Table of Honor ceremony, music by Jennifer Housholder of the “Hous Band,” a bugle solo by Gerald Lockwood and a wreath-laying ceremony.

On Nov. 11, the Antelope Valley Service Organization Association will host its annual Veterans Day Ceremony in front of the AV Wall. Led by emcee Bobby Breech from the Palmdale American Legion Club, the ceremony begins at 11 a.m. and will feature remarks from Mayor Ledford, an invocation, color guard, Pledge of Allegiance, guest speakers and a rifle salute.

Closing ceremonies will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 12 at 8 a.m.

The AV Wall is one of only two mobile Vietnam War veteran walls that are engraved, and the only one laid out in the same design as the original in Washington, D.C. Measuring approximately 250 feet long and 6 feet high at its apex, it contains the engraved names of all 58,286 Vietnam veterans killed in action and missing in action.

From 2005 through 2009, more than $100,000 was raised to build the wall. It was dedicated at a ceremony at Joe Davies Heritage Airpark at Palmdale Plant 42 on Nov. 13, 2009.

Point Man Antelope Valley is the guardians of the AV Wall, and has dedicated a committee to oversee all aspects of the AV Wall.

For more information on the AV Wall, call (661) 524-6408 or visit www.avwall.org.

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