Welcome Home

My deepest gratitude goes out to Dave and Susan Dube of Lazy Susan's restaurant in Ossipee New Hampshire for their tireless effort in bring The Wall to Ossipee. I have been very involved in the project since the early days attending countless meetings and planning sessions. The time is coming up quick with the approach of May 22nd. You can feel the excitement among the volunteers and executive committee. So much to do and so much to worry about and it is soon to be here and the planning put into motion. Are we nervous, I guess you would have to say just a little bit.

It will be my first time viewing any version of The Wall, and while I didn't lose anyone close to me in Vietnam I lived amidst the tumultuous time that was the war. I had a brother volunteer to go over and serve as a Seabee in Da Nang, now suffering from the ravages of Agent Orange. I also had a brother in law serve with the Swift Boats in the brown water Navy, who not only went over once but volunteered to go back a second time. He has since divorced my sister, and there is no way to know how the tours in country affected his psyche.

It was a war in which our soldiers, sailors, and airmen did not come home to open arms of welcome as they are today. It is a war where the country was deeply divided by a chasm that will never be completely healed,but we have been closing it slowly over time. In preparation for the event I have been studying up on the wall. I found this quote from the designer of the memorial
"I felt the memorial should be honest about the reality of wall and for the people who gave their lives...I didn't want a static object that people would just look at, but something they could relate to as on a journey, or passage, that would bring each to his own conclusions... I had an impulse to cut open the earth... an initial violence that in time would heal...It was as if the black brown earth were polished and made into an interface between the sunny world and the quiet dark world beyond, that we can't enter...The names would be the memorial. There was no need to embellish." Maya Ying Lin. In my estimation she met her goal. Friends of mine who have visited the actual wall in Washington said that there is a stark difference between The Wall and the other monuments. The other monuments you can hear people talking about what the monument means how they were built, what they mean, however when they get to The Wall you can hear a pin drop, and tears are evident on the faces of many. Children can be seen touching the names of loved ones they will never know. Mementos left to honor those who will never be forgotten. Letters left telling loved ones how they are missed.

I look forward with trepidation to having the honor to work on he Wall, and share my thoughts and insights as we move forward. An to the Vietnam Veterans out there who may read this I have one phrase for you WELCOME HOME BROTHERS WELCOME HOME