A memorial wall that lists the names of nearly 7,000 military service members killed in action since the 9/11 attacks was unveiled in Long Beach Memorial Day.
At an early morning ceremony active duty military, police, veterans and the families of the fallen read 6,864 names inscribed on the "Honoring Our Fallen Memorial Wall'' at Rosie the Riveter Park.
A 1,200 foot long section of a pre-existing wall holds ten granite slabs engraved with the names of the fallen. The names appear in order of the date each service member was lost, beginning Sept. 2001.
"The wall will be a place where families and friends can come to visit, do a name rubbing, place a flower and see their loved one's sacrifice is not forgotten,'' said Laura Herzog, founder and CEO of Honoring Our Fallen, a Cypress-based nonprofit organization which conducts programs helping the children and spouses of service members killed in the line of duty.
"For some families in California, this wall will be the closest place they can come as their hero is buried out of state or a distance too far to travel on a moment's decision.''
Herzog says the total cost for the memorial will be close to $70,000. About $17,000 was donated by the family of a young Marine killed in combat, while an online fundraising campaign has raised over $14,000.
The unveiling ceremony was held at 4 p.m. at Rosie the Riveter Park located at Clark Avenue and Conant Street on Memorial Day.
