Traveling Vietnam Veterans Memorial

Vietnam veteran David Tilson helps volunteers set up a row of flags at the entrance to the Traveling Vietnam Veterans Memorial at Tri-City Park in Placentia on Wednesday. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

March 14, 2012 12 AM PT

Veterans, families of the fallen and members of the community gathered to honor the “Wall That Heals.” The Traveling Vietnam Veterans Memorial is on display until Sunday, March 18, at Tri-City Park in Placentia.

Planes flown by Air Combat USA offer a tribute at the opening ceremony for the Traveling Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Placentia. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Navy veteran Robert Shumway and grandson Jeremy look at names on the memorial. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Paityn Thompson of Yorba Linda looks at the name and a picture of her great-uncle, Alfred Lee Davis, who was killed in action in 1966. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Korean War veteran Eddie Castro rubs a pencil on paper to trace the name of a friend killed in Vietnam. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

A Battlefield Cross stands guard over the memorial on opening day in Placentia. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Bill Whiting of Diamond Bar holds photos of his son, Richard Whiting, an Army private first class killed in Vietnam at 19. The photos show Whiting, left, as a new arrival in Vietnam and after a long tour of duty in the jungle shortly before his death. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)