Hello everyone, I hope y’all had a wonderful 4th
of July weekend. I’m sorry to keep you waiting with the next installment.
After my time at the WWII memorial I continued down the
national mall. While I walked beside the reflecting pool looking at the Lincoln
Memorial started to remember important moments in American History that
occurred there. As I looked at the steps of the memorial I began to imagine
what it must have looked like to be at there listening to MLK give his “I have
a dream” speech on that August day in 1963.
With it being a rather hot June day I decided to go off to a
shady area near the Lincoln Memorial.
Before I knew it I had ended up next to
the Vietnam War Memorial. The memorial has been called “the wall that heals”.
After being there in person I can attest to that name being well-deserved. I
decided to sit down on a park bench and see what was going on. The Memorial was
rather quiet that day. The only real sound came from a park ranger giving a
tour of the Memorial to a summer program, of some sort, that was full of middle
school aged kids. I listen for a little while as the ranger talked about important
names and dates associated with the wall. I must admit I was probably listening
to the ranger about as well as the children were. I was distracted by my own
thoughts. The ranger eventually led the group away to the “Three Service Men
Statute”.
In the absence of the
tour group a hush fell over the area. After a few more moments of silent reflection
I walked over to the wall. As I began to get closer to the wall, the smooth,
polished black marble began to reveal the names of those who gave their lives
in service to the nation. It was almost impossible for me to digest the shear amount
of names engraved on that wall. I remember looking down to the other end of the
memorial. All along the base of the memorial I could see things people left at
the memorial. Some of them were personal items like photos from comrades. Others
were simply things like flowers and cards left by loved ones. I began to tear
up a little as I thought of the men behind the names. All of these men had
hopes and dreams, they loved and were loved and they gave all that up to serve
our country. Their brothers who did come home didn’t receive the welcome they
deserved. Some were verbally or physically attacked simply because they
answered the nation’s call. I started to think about all the veterans of
Vietnam that I know in my personal life, and what they must have gone through
both on the battlefield and back home. That is why I want to take this time to thank
any and all Vietnam vets for their service. You came home without as much as an
acknowledgement from your fellow Americans. So from this grateful American I’d like
to say “Thank You and Welcome Home!”
