Name after name, etched forever in the minds and lives of millions, memorialized on this wall.

"Many people cannot travel to Washington DC and look for the name of their family member or a good friend," Lieutenant Governor Jari Askins said. "This provides that opportunity and I think it's so appropriate that it's on Independence Day, a day where we celebrate the opportunity That we had as a country to determine how we wanted to govern ourselves."

For the veterans who visit, the names represent a cross-section of friends---friends that cannot be classified or labeled as anything but brothers.

"These people here, their names are on the wall, they're all brothers now," Vietnam veteran Danny Wright said. "It doesn't matter if they're Air Force, Navy, it doesn't matter. They're all brothers in death. And anybody that served in that conflict, we have an attachment to these people."

"Such a moving experience," John Bickerstaff, Master Sergeant, USAF Retired said. "I'm certainly glad to be a part of that. I'm glad to be standing here today. 58,000 guys are not here. I am and I thank that. The emotional experience and what I take away from this will be unforgettable."

And when they see a name they know... the wall becomes a portal--transporting them back in time... if only for a moment.

"It brings a tear to your eye, and it just takes you back to to those days then and how life was then, and what it could have been today for those guys," Bickerstaff said. "They gave their life for that, it's just a very emotional moment."