Memorial wall unveiled in Long Beach

LONG BEACH >> Hundreds gathered Monday at Rosie the Riveter Park to watch the unveiling of a memorial wall dedicated to more than 6,800 troops who have fallen since the 9/11 attacks.

The names engraved upon the wall are of any serviceman or woman who died while on active duty.

Laura Herzog, founder and director of the nonprofit Honoring Our Fallen, which has worked to raise money and support for the wall, fought tears as she spoke of the families and friends of the fallen.

“Every day is Memorial Day for them,” Herzog said.

The initial cost of the wall was about $47,500, part of which Herzog said came from a $17,000 donation by the family of fallen Marine Cpl. Claudio Patino, which held a fundraising golf touament. Nearly $16,000 has come from Honoring Our Fallen’s account at the GoFundMe website.

Donations to the wall will retu what the organization has spent, as well as fund upgrades, add names and pay for maintenance. Herzog said about $40,000 more is needed to finish the project.

Those gathered Monday stood in awe of the work already done.

“It’s pretty great, to have something like this local,” said Tim MacPherson, brother of Army Sgt. Thomas R. MacPherson, a 26-year-old graduate of Los Alamitos High School who was killed in combat in Afghanistan in 2012.

Thomas R. MacPherson enlisted in the Army in 2007 and served as a mortarman and team leader. Having also been deployed to Iraq, he was on his fourth deployment to Afghanistan. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment of the U.S. Army Special Operations Command at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state.

“It’s tough, especially around this time of year,” Tim MacPherson said. “It gets a little easier every year, but it’s still tough.”

Herzog has worked since about 2010 to see the wall come to life. She was working as a public affairs officer at the Joint Forces Training Base in Los Alamitos. When her contract ended in 2011, she launched the Honoring Our Fallen nonprofit organization, which helps the families of those killed in service.

Ceremonies began at 6 a.m. Monday with the reading of the names of the 6,864 fallen listed on the wall. The reading lasted until around 12:30 p.m., or right about the time the sun broke through the moing cloud cover.

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“After the last name was read, the sun started to come out,” a tearful Herzog said.

And more and more relatives of the dead came out, too. Herzog spent much of her day hugging the children of those who died.

“It’s why we built this wall,” Herzog said. “They always want to know that their loved ones are not forgotten.”

Pastor Chris Lankford of Long Beach Alliance Church comforted those in attendance who “felt the sting” of death on Memorial Day, and so many other days, in the wake of losing a friend or relative in the service of freedom.

“We honor you, as we honor our fallen,” he said.