A TIME FOR HEALING : VIETNAM MEMORIAL ON DISPLAY.Byline: Jeannette DeSantis Daily News Staff Writer Nearly 30 years have passed since their son was killed in the Vietnam War Vietnam War, conflict in Southeast Asia, primarily fought in South Vietnam between government forces aided by the United States and guerrilla forces aided by North Vietnam. , but on Thursday, it was apparent that time has not dulled the grief of June and Richard Yanchuk. ``It is something that is hard to understand for people who haven't lost a loved one,'' said Richard Yanchuk Sr. of West Hills. The Yanchuks and more than 100 others came to Warner Park
Warner Park is a community park in northern Madison, Wisconsin. on Thursday for the opening ceremony of the Traveling Vietnam Veterans Memorial Vietnam Veterans Memorial, war memorial in Washington, D.C., built 1982. Designed by the American sculptor and architect Maya Ying Lin, it is a sloping, V-shaped, 493-ft (150-m) wall of highly polished black granite that descends 10 feet (3. , a 250-foot reproduction of the original memorial in Washington D.C. The wall carries the names of Californians who died in the war. Among the names is that of 20-year-old Army Warrant Officer and helicopter pilot Richard Yanchuk Jr., who was killed two months after arriving in Vietnam in 1969. ``Even looking at this wall is hard after 30 years,'' the father said tearfully. His wife, June Yanchuk, added: ``It is sad, but the wall is necessary because it recognizes them, and goodness knows these boys didn't get much of that.'' Called ``The Wall That Heals,'' the monument will make only this stop in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. as part of its nationwide tour. It will be on display at the Woodland Hills park until Sunday, when a reading of the California casualties will start at noon. A closing candlelight ceremony will be held at 7:30 p.m. Although most memories were bittersweet bittersweet, name for two unrelated plants, belonging to different families, both fall-fruiting woody vines sometimes cultivated for their decorative scarlet berries. Thursday, others saw the traveling wall as an opportunity for healing and learning. ``I am always happy to see and talk to other GIs,'' said Darron Sharp of Simi Valley Simi Valley (sē`mē, sĭm`ē), city (1990 pop. 100,217), Ventura co., SW Calif. in an oil, fruit, and farm region; laid out 1887, inc. 1969. , an Army infantryman in the Vietnam War between 1968 and 1969. ``Kids ought to know about this. . . . Most kids have only heard about it through the protesters.'' For others, viewing the wall was like a trip back to the jungles of Vietnam. ``I want to remember; I don't want to forget,'' said Art Guzman, 46, of Sylmar. He still wears bracelets that bear the names of prisoners of war prisoners of war, in international law, persons captured by a belligerent while fighting in the military. International law includes rules on the treatment of prisoners of war but extends protection only to combatants. and missing troops whose whereabouts remain unknown. ``These guys were our brothers,'' said Guzman, a former Army infantryman who was in Vietnam between 1970 and 1971. ``You can still see their faces, and you remember the music we listened too - the Moody Blues, Santana. All this means something. A lot of us feel better about ourselves because of this wall. That's the good part.'' Some youths at the ceremony saw the wall as a symbol of what they never want to happen again. ``History will repeat itself if we don't remember what happened in Vietnam,'' said Canoga Park High School Canoga Park High School is a public school located in Canoga Park in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, California, USA, within the Los Angeles Unified School District. It is located right across the street from the Topanga Plaza shopping center. student Johanna Montes mon·tes n. Plural of mons. . ``These people gave up their lives for us, and if we don't appreciate that, this can happen again.'' CAPTION(S): 2 Photos PHOTO (1) Richard Yanchuk of West Hills looks for the name of his son who died in 1969 after two months in combat. (2) Color guards open a ceremony at the Traveling Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Phil McCarten/Daily News |
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