Replica of Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall on display in Peoria

PEORIA, Ariz. (FOX 10) - The tears flowed freely from Larry Laprarie's eyes.

"You can't approach this without emotion. That whole wall is nothing but emotion to me and anybody else that has names of friends on there, people we served with," he said. "The rounds kept coming in just so fast and so hard."

Laprarie was barely 22-years-old when he served in Vietnam. The Army veteran is taking part in the opening ceremony in Peoria's Rio Vista Community Park where a replica of the Vietnam Memorial will be displayed through Monday.

Laprarie says the memories are many, like the heroes who lost their lives.

It took 15 volunteers two-and-a-half hours to transform the grassy knoll into a place of remembrance to construct the replica.

"Just how big the war was and how many lives it took," Laprairie said. "It's a very, I think, very important lesson for all of us."

The lessons, says Laprarie, are written among the names.

"It was a time that I guess it's hard to forget," he said. "That's the best way I can tell you."