OCEANSIDE -- Accompanied by the snorts and snarls of more than 60 chrome-and-steel hogs, a touring replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., rolled into Oceanside on Tuesday.
Fit snugly into a red, white and blue semitrailer, the replica was escorted to its set-up site across from the Oceanside Municipal Pier by Harley Davidson-riding former Marines and other veterans draped in leather and the Stars and Stripes.
"For me, Vietnam was something I had to bury right when I got home (from the war)," said Ken Kane, a former platoon sergeant in Vietnam who lives in Vista. "I pretended like it never happened."
Kane said that riding into town as part of the motorcade with fellow veterans and former soldiers and Marines gave him the comradery he has missed for decades. He said it was the first time he could be open and truthful about his feelings since he returned from the war, adding that the ride was a "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."
"I felt I needed to do it," Kane said. "I got the sense of being welcome back home for the first time."
The replica, known as the Vietnam Wall Experience, will be on display in Oceanside for three days starting Friday. The Wall is a three-quarter-size replica of the 10-foot-tall, 493-foot-long, black-granite monument in Washington, D.C., that was designed by artist Maya Ying Lin.
It's the largest of three traveling replicas.
Jim Brunotte, a veteran who lost his legs and part of his arm when he ran over a land mine with his Jeep in Vietnam, said he got goose bumps and chills when he saw the motorcade lead the Wall to its beachfront location. The riders pulled into an adjacent lot and circled several times before stopping to have a group photograph taken in front of the semitrailer.
Brunotte said the Wall can help veterans cope with the emotional toll of the war, adding that the name of one of his good friends -- a passenger in the Jeep that hit the land mine -- is on the Wall.
"I've found that some (war veterans) are more wounded on the inside than … on the outside," Brunotte said. "The emotional (wounds) -- they get buried."
The memorial will open with ceremonies at noon Friday and remain open round-the-clock until midnight Sunday. The opening ceremony will feature bands, tributes and guest speakers. There will be a candlelight vigil at 7 p.m. Saturday, and a closing ceremony at 5 p.m. Sunday -- although it will remain open to the public until midnight that night.
Created in 1990, the replica has a mirrorlike, black, faux-granite finish and features the names of the more than 58,000 dead and missing in Vietnam. It has visited more than 200 cities and been seen by millions of people.
"It's really an emotional thing -- you don't realize it," said Carlsbad's Cheryl Cooke, whose husband was one of the bikers who led the Wall to its downtown site.
Cooke's eyes began to water as she talked about the significance of the Wall.
"I'm teary-eyed," Cooke said of seeing the veterans leading the truck down to the site. "It's really something."
Bill Weyers, a former Marine sergeant who served in Vietnam, said he felt the ride was necessary to show support for all of America's veterans, including the new and soon-to-be veterans of the war in Iraq. Weyers said his cousin's name is on the Wall. He said his cousin died on his 20th birthday.
"We want to let everybody know we're behind our troops," Weyers said. "We want all the guys in Iraq to know we're supporting them by being here."
The 60-plus bikers rode to the Las Pulgas exit on Camp Pendleton to meet the semitrailer truck hauling the Wall. The bikers lined up in a long row under the overpasses, mulling and socializing in their leather gear, before starting up their hogs to lead the truck south on Interstate 5 to Mission Avenue. The motorcade then took Mission Avenue to Myers Street, and headed to the site off Pier View Way.
Many of the bikers were members in the Biggs Chapter of the Harley-Davidson Club, with most riders from North County. Many bikers were Vietnam veterans, but a large number of others were former Marines and other U.S. veterans who served in other conflicts.
Doug Ferris, a former Marine dressed in leather and denim and sporting a long goatee of curly hair, said he was proud to help bring the replica Vietnam Wall to Oceanside.
"I've never seen the actual Wall," Ferris said before the motorcade pulled out from the Las Pulgas exit. "To be able to escort it into town will be a great feeling."
Vietnam veteran Lonnie Long said he hoped the Wall would help heal some of the pain caused by the politics and complexity of the Vietnam War, and the fact that many veterans were never acknowledged for doing their duties.
"The significant meaning of the wall to veterans … is it commemorates the loss of life," Long said. "It commemorates those who we still don't know their fate."
Contact staff writer Rob O'Dell at (760) 901-4067 or rodell@nctimes.com.
