He lined up representatives from other veterans' organizations to help plan the week-long program while the replica was on display. University staff stayed at the exhibit during the day, and the veterans maintained the vigil at night. University students read aloud the names of the veterans, and volunteers directed visitors to the locations of the veterans' names on the wall. Names were in chronological order, so volunteers had to refer to alphabetical lists to locate the names. Wherever the wall goes, the visitors come, sometimes even before the wall is fully set up.
Some visitors place flowers, wreaths, notes and photos on the wall.
Nearly 50,000 people visited the replica on the Loyola campus in New Orleans, and hundreds of U.S. and Vietnamese flags were put on the wall. All of the artifacts left by relatives or friends are collected at the close of each exhibit, boxed, marked at each location, and taken to San Jose, California to be stored temporarily in the VCV Ltd. Memorial Fund's warehouse. When he was told the date of death, he was overcome with emotion and his wife had to guide him away. David Ludwig was at the desk about 4 AM on a cold night when a misty-eyed man in a flight jacket asked for names of his comrades. He was a navy pilot still in the service, and he had come at night because he didn't want to face the crowds, not knowing how he would react.