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Big crowd attends aV Vietnam Wall ‘Final Salute’
by Dennis Anderson
special to Aerotech News
PALMDALE, Calif. — Ron Reyes was not even born when his father was killed in Vietnam on March 30 1968.
He was named after his father who was known to his brother Marines as “Ronnie,” the kind of battle buddy who would give you the shirt off his back.
Ron Reyes, in his late 50s, spent a lifetime trying to learn about the man who was killed during the Battle of Khe Sanh. He learned what unit his father served in, 1st Battalion, 9th Marines, also known as “The Walking Dead” because of their high casualty rate.
Ron Reyes Sr.’s name on the Antelope Valley Vietnam Memorial is on Panel 47 East, Line 16.
The younger Reyes was key- note speaker on Veterans Day, Nov. 11, 2025, at the “Final Salute” of the AV Wall, the half-scale tribute memorial that has all 58,281 names of every American known to have been killed during the Vietnam War.
On Tuesday, Veterans Day observed, Ron Reyes Jr., the “Gold Star” son of a Marine killed during the Battle of Khe Sanh, spoke on how his father’s death changed his life forever. He also added that Vietnam War veterans changed forever how America sees its veterans and respects their service.
A crowd of hundreds of Viet- nam War veterans, veterans of other eras, friends, families and supporters of the military community turned out for the final presentation of the home- grown, grassroots memorial that became a regular feature of patriotic observations across Southern California for 16 years since its dedication at Veterans Day in 2009.
“I want to thank all the veter- ans in attendance here for your service and your sacrifice,” he said. “Once you sign up, you can’t un-sign up. You can’t take back that experience.
Photographs by Dennis Anderson
MEMORIAL REMEMBRANCE with flags and postcard biographies of some of the 58,281 Americans killed during the Vietnam War.
AV Wall “Final Salute” speaker Ron Reyes whose father’s name is on the Vietnam Memorial, killed in action before his son was born.
“Final Salute” at final presentation of the Antelope Valley Vietnam Memorial.
ABOVE AND LEFT: Large crowds gathered for the final presentation of the Antelope Valley Mobile Vietnam Memorial.
civic and patriotic engagement an opportunity to re-connect and reminisce.
Among the earliest were Ma- rine veteran George Palermo, Army veterans Michael Bertell and Gerry Rice, all Vietnam War combat vets there at the founding of the project. Other originals, Navy veteran Glen Nester, could not attend for health reasons, and Robert “Bob” Evans, 101st Airborne veteran, has died. The limits of lifespan and health had a role in the decision to retire the Antelope Valley Vietnam Wall.
“The board talked, prayed, and talked some more before agreeing that the AV Wall will be decommissioned after the “Final Salute” display,” said Stacia Nemeth, Volunteer Co- ordinator for the project.
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“I want to recognize the Vietnam veterans here,” Reyes said. “Because of you, memori- als will never look the same. Because of you PTSD was
identified ... because of you the advocacy for veterans has been un-matched.”
“Because of you people are going to make sure everyone is honored when they get home,” Reyes said.
Reyes Jr., son of Marine Ron “Ronnie” Reyes, read aloud from some of the letters his fa- ther sent home to his wife and his mother before he was killed.
“If I had my choice, I’d be home with you and our baby,” his father wrote home from Vietnam. “But the Corps needs me now.”
He added, “You have to re- member who you’re fighting for ... for you and our baby.” His father added, “I want to take him to the park, to the beach, to show him how to throw a ball.”
The solemn, ceremonial, bit- tersweet final presentation of the monument known affection- ately as “The AV Wall” brought in hundreds of Vietnam War veterans, their family members, also family and friends, school groups, scouting and youth groups and dignitaries from as close as city hall and as far as Washington, D.C.
The “Final Salute” to the Wall featured ceremonial falconry, a hawk overflying the Palmdale Amphitheater, and dozens of schoolchildren and community queens who turned out for a “Tunnel of Love,” a celebratory gauntlet of girls and boys hand- ing out personal “Thank You” notes to veterans as they entered
the setting at Marie Kerr Park. In the portable memorial’s 16 years of service it has been displayed at 24 locations across Southern California, as far northeast as Bishop, as far south as San Diego, twice in Simi Val- ley, and a dozen other municipal
parks and school campuses. The AV Wall project was a grassroots labor of love, a half-scale tribute modeling the national Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C. with its 58, 281 names of every American known to have been killed in Vietnam during the war that lasted for 20 years, ending in 1975 with the fall of Saigon in the former Republic of South
Vietnam.
The AV Wall cost, with its 70
locally from private sources including more than $20,000 in pennies contributed by school- children of the Antelope Valley when the project started 20 years ago. Community volun- teer Linda Santana conceived the Pennies for Soldiers drive, and saw it used as an educa- tional tool.
The AV Wall has been dis- played dozens of times, most often 10 return engagements at the Palmdale Amphitheater with support from the City of Palmdale.
Ceremonies that opened the four-day presentation at twilight on Saturday featured Vietnam veteran Terry Ritz, singing the National Anthem in his dress white Navy uniform. The four- day gathering gave many who contributed to the long-running
panels of engraved names, cost more than $120,000, all raised
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