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Aug 28, 2023

AV Wall Board votes to retire The Mobile Vietnam Memorial Wall

The AV Wall Board voted recently to retire the Mobile Vietnam Memorial Wall following the November 2025 display in Palmdale. “The AV Wall Board has been discussing retiring our memorial for some time

The AV Wall Board voted recently to retire the Mobile Vietnam Memorial Wall following the November 2025 display in Palmdale.

“The AV Wall Board has been discussing retiring our memorial for some time and with the 50th Vietnam War Commemorative program coming to an end in 2025, there was no doubt that it is the best time to retire The AV Wall,” said Mike Bertell, president of The Mobile Vietnam Memorial Wall. “It will be a bittersweet ending for all of us having spent 18 years of planning, organizing, and watching our baby go on display across Southern California.

“There are endless memories that will stay with the crew and volunteers for the rest of our lives. We have made many friends,” Bertell continued. “There have been tears shed and plenty of joy. We have met people from many cities; people who would never have come into our lives on a normal basis. I know we have touched the hearts of hundreds of families. We have laughed (at times making fun of each other) and we have been held together by the love of a dream.”

The current schedule calls for the Wall to be on display Nov. 7-12, 2023, at Westpark Elementary School in Rosamond. Volunteer information will be available in August with the Mandatory Volunteer Training scheduled in October.

Other dates confirmed are:

May 24-27, 2024: Smith Park in Pico Rivera

May 23-26, 2025: Rancho Tapo Community Park in Simi Valley

November 25: Palmdale Amphitheater

Communities in Southern California who would like to host The AV Wall in November 2024 can submit their request at https://avwall.org/about/the-av-wall/

“We do not know what the future is for the AV Wall at this time,” said Bertell. “There have been many suggestions and the board will discuss our options in depth over the next two years. In our hearts we would like to see the AV Wall go on forever, but those of us who have been traveling from city to city since its inception are tired. Leaving home for five days and making a long drive back after packing it all up has taken a toll on us.

“We are a family now and will be getting together and partying like old people do. Plus, we still have the drive to help veterans in need,” Bertell said. “That will go on as long as there are soldiers. It is what gives us our motivation.”

The Mobile Vietnam Memorial Wall is a half-scale mobile replica of The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C.

It was created by and for the Antelope Valley (hence the nickname “The AV Wall”). The AV Wall is cared for and displayed by a 100 percent volunteer workforce. Point Man Antelope Valley (a nonprofit veteran ministry group) is the Guardian of The AV Wall.

Point Man Antelope Valley is an Outpost of Point Man International Ministries, a non-denominational, evangelistic, mission-oriented, faith ministry committed to facilitating healing and restoration of the spiritual, emotional and physical needs of veterans and their families.

Weekly veteran to veteran meetings allows military veterans of all ages to meet in a safe environment to share stories and help each other heal. Weekly meetings are held at 6 p.m., Tuesdays in the Antelope Valley College Veterans Center.