Memorial wall at Camp Pendleton honors Iraq, Afghanistan war dead

To honor Marines and sailors killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, a memorial wall was unveiled Wednesday at Camp Pendleton.

Local Rotary clubs raised $65,000 to pay for the names of the dead to be etched on a sandstone wall across from the 1st Marine Division headquarters. The names of 1,146 Marines and sailors, including 453 from the Camp Pendleton-based 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, are arranged by the year of their death.

In a brief ceremony, Lt. Gen. Thomas Waldhauser, commander of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, said the wall “is not intended to provide closure [for families of the fallen] nor should it be -- because the legacy of their heroism will always remain in their hearts.”

INTERACTIVE: California's War Dead

Several panels on the wall are blank.

“Sadly, there is space to provide for more names,” Waldhauser said at the morning ceremony. “Any future fallen hero will have a place on this wall.”

Hours later, the Pentagon released the name of another Marine killed in Afghanistan. And on Thursday morning, the name of a second Marine was released.

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-- Tony Perry at Camp Pendleton

Photo: A guest at the unveiling ceremony reads names on the memorial wall at Camp Pendleton. Credit: Tony Perry / Los Angeles Times