VISTA, Calif. (KGTV) — It’s been a nearly two-and-a-half-year journey to unveil a newly restored Vietnam War Memorial.
The story behind the memorial with marines from the 5th Marine Regiment isn’t something that happens every day.
“This particular piece of it became lost and abandoned and damaged. We found it in ramona and it was laying in disgrace," said Barry Graham, U.S. Marine Corps veteran.
For Barry Graham, seeing the monument hit him right in the heart.
“It struck me. When I saw it lying there. It was like I saw these 400 marines sitting there — camped out— waiting for somebody to rescue them," he said.
He said the memorial was actually supposed to be a part of the Vietnam memorial at Camp Pendleton.
“The second from the right was manufactured to the wrong size. It took me 6 months to find that out form the manufacture. It was about an inch and a half too narrow," he said.
The work to restore the monument took it from this.
“There were three main spots where someone had taken a grinder to it. You can see grinder marks. The names were gone. They were obliterated," he said.
To an honorable memorial that touched some of our local Vietnam veterans.
“One of these days we’re all going to be gone and the only thing that’s going to be mindful of what has taken place are things like this," he said.
The final location of where the memorial will be placed is in the works.
