Touring Replica of Vietnam Wall Exhibited

South Bay residents are getting their last chance this year to pay their respects at the Moving Wall, a half-scale replica of the Washington, D.C., memorial honoring those who died in Vietnam.

At its unveiling Monday in a park across from the TRW building on Marine Avenue between Aviation and Freeman boulevards, more than 100 veterans, grieving parents and relatives paid their respects to the soldiers of Vietnam.

The Moving Wall tour is sponsored by TRW, Southern California Edison Co., the city of Hawthorne and several other local communities. For South Bay residents, it is the last chance this year to visit the wall. However, the monument will return to the West Coast again next March, TRW spokesman Nick Nickelson said.

The memorial wall will be on display through Saturday. Signs will be posted along Freeman and Marine directing visitors to the park.

At the Monday ceremony, floral bouquets were aligned alongside the wall. As veterans raised a POW flag, many fought back tears at the horrifying memories of the war.

“This wall represents my life,” said Rick Dilelio, a 40-year-old veteran who served from 1971 to 1973. “It took 20 years of my life that cannot be replaced. I lost jobs when I came home.”

Dorothy Schafernocker came from Ft. Worth, Tex., to pay respects to her son, Michael.

Schafernocker said that she knows many Vietnam veterans. “I understand what they have gone through and how painful it was for them.”