Brenda, who blogs under the page ENROUTE 365 posted a comment on my last post...."I was just wondering if there were any commonalities in the stories told during this event? Or any thoughts on what you think the greatest benefits are from events like this? Obviously it's good for the young to learn and understand part of the country's history. But it's good for us adults, too. A cousin of mine who served in Vietnam is now also just started to discuss his war experiences ... something that I think is good for us, his family, as well as for him."
I think it is time to answer these questions. There is a commonality of the stories I have heard on this occasion and it is that of putting a face on the name of the wall. giving a more human look on the causalities. We have to remember that these are more than just names on a piece of aluminum in the case of the moving wall, or marble in the case of the Memorial in Washington.. These were people, who had brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, wives, and sons, and daughters. They were people who lived, loved, laughed and cried. They were scared, and bewildered in a foreign land. I talked to a man who had left a can of beer in front of his friends name because he owed him a drink from their last time on liberty. Another Veteran left 29 cents at the wall because he had borrowed it from his buddy to buy a pack of cigarettes the morning before he was killed, and this was the first time he was able to pay him back. A veteran from Iraq left his CID (combat infantry badge) and jump wings in tribute to all who lost their lives in Vietnam. In church this morning they showed a video that talked about Milton Oliver III who won the Medal of Honor because he picked up a live grenade cradled it to his stomach and then fell on top of it to protect his platoon. My 21 year old daughter picked some lilacs and left them in front of panel 9 East in honor of this brave man to let him know that people in New Hampshire appreciated his ultimate sacrifice. A veteran came under the cover of darkness to visit the wall as he walked along the wall looking at the ground ahead of him. He could not bring himself to look at the wall. I walked over to him in my camouflage shirt with my ribbons on it, I took his hand and said Welcome Home. He looked at me, then the bars on my collar, his eyes then glanced down to the ribbons on my chest, he dropped my hand and gave a bear hug, thanked me then wished me a welcome home. The next thing I knew we were walking across the field to the name tent to look up the only name he remembered, we then walked back to the wall and looked up the name as John then stood there and told me how this kid had just come the the United States from Turkey, and could barely speak English, but he joined the Marines, and he was one hell of a Marine. He died one night on patrol when he stepped on a mine. When he heard the click he froze, and warned the rest of the squad to get out of the way before he lifted his foot off the mine. John then sat on the bench in front of the east wall and told me in tearful eyes, how he was transfered to another platoon, never had a chance to get to know all the guys in the platoon, but they were ambushed . He couldn't remember any of their names but he knew the date, so I gave him the link to the wall website in Washington so he could do a search by the date of casualty. He then told me what happened, they were on the top of a hill when an artillery round landed right in front of him. He was wounded but the impact of the shell mainly mushroomed up over the top of him. The only survivors were the four closest to the impact. He was going to go home and do a search and get their names. We talked for an hour and he gave me another hug and walked out of the field with his head held high.
A woman asked me to help with a rubbing, as we rubbed the name she told me about her brother that she had hardly known because he was 12 years older than her, who had proudly enlisted in the Navy only to be killed when the tragic fire happened on the Forrestal.
We had a gentleman drive from Bangor Maine about 4 hours because he heard the Moving Wall was coming to us, and he felt it was finally time to say goodbye to some long lost friends. Another gentleman came to the name tent with a long list of names on tattered crinkled paper, as the volunteers looked up the names they could only find one fo the names, they wrote down the location of that one name, and while handing it to the man they apologized for not finding more of the names for him. He wiped a tear form his eye, and told them not to apologize, because the list of names were of guys he had served with, but lost contact with, he was very sure of the spelling he had for each man so if their names were not in the directory, then they had lived and he could finally put his nightmares to rest.
In my case even though I did not serve in Vietnam it finally gave me the chance to put some demons of my own to rest by sharing these stories with men who had gone through Hell and back. Even those who had never serve were able to put heir hand on someones back while their heads were bent in sobs over names of friends who never came back.
I strongly suggest if you have the chance to work on an event like this the rewards you get back far exceed any inconveniences to you for the time you spent doing the event. Every man woman and child that worked here is walking away from it much richer in their lives for the stories they hear. One lady walked over to me gave me a huge bear hug, kissed me on the cheek and thanked me for my service, and all I could do is croak out a thank you to her as I tried to hold back my tears. The children were very respectful and some kids got to meet the memory of a grandfather they never knew. I know my kids are walking away much richer for the time they spent at the Wall. The high school students who came to help set up were working shoulder to shoulder with battle hardened veterans, and hearing their stories.
Talking and crying are good at an event like this and it allows people to voice the demons that have haunted them for years. It is very important for our kids to learn the history of our past for those who do not study their past is doomed to repeat it. One of the greatest men I had the opportunity to meet during this visit is Major Frank McCarthy USMC. He is a Marines Marine, and presented opening remarks for the Wall on Friday night, his talk did not leave a dry eye. My intention was to leave a wreath for the Sailors and Marines who lost their lives in Beirut when the Marine Barracks were bombed,Frank found out about this and informed me there would be a formal wreath laying at 1600 hours Saturday, and all I could say was "Yes Sir" Frank then dug up another Veteran of Beirut and got us in formation and He made a small speech and and saluted me as I laid the cross I had purchased for my quiet impromptu wreath laying. When we dismissed the formation, Frank Saluted me and said "Well done Sailor, now you are Home". Another battle hardened Vietnam Veteran took my hand, placed them on my ribbons, and told me you've done well sir, you've done well.
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