Others left flowers on the panels next to loved one's names. We might not know any people here but it still touches. The symbolic blanket was unfurled for the first time in four years Friday, stretching from the Washington Monument to the foot of Capitol Hill. It will be on display throughout the weekend. Each of the 38,000 panels commemorates at least one person who has died from the disease.
Some panels just give a name of a victim, perhaps with a portrait.
For some who visited the Mall, it was a chance to learn the fate of long-lost friends. May be last viewing Most names on the quilt are Americans, but AIDS victims from 39 other countries are included, ranging from Zambians to Cubans to Russians to Thais. An estimated 2,000 speakers will read the names of the 70,000 men, women and children memorialized by the quilt as part of the weekend ceremony. The symbolic blanket first debuted in 1987 and has been shown in 2,000 U.S. cities. But it has grown so large it now has to be stored in a San Francisco warehouse, moved by 10 rail cars and unfolded by 1,000 people.