Friday, November 12, 2010

Vietnam Wall

There is a striking wall in Washington DC honoring those in the US military who gave their lives while serving their country during the Vietnam war.  I was fortunate enough to see this memorial wall when I visited DC several years ago.  It is very difficult to view this wall without welling up with emotion.  So many names, so many grieving families. 
There is not a single name on the wall that I recognize.  The war ended a year or two before any of my friends and classmates were old enough to be eligible for service. And yet, unexpectedly, tears came.

A much smaller "traveling memorial wall" has been touring the country.  It is in my town for 5 days. I went to see it this afternoon.



Again, the tears fell.  This time, it was not unexpected.


3 comments:

  1. I know how you feel Rumi, so many dead. When you just hear numbers it is impersonal but when you see a list of names it really hits you. Each one was a child with a family, each one was part of a friendship circle, maybe a member of a sporting team, maybe they had children of their own. Each one's loss leaves a gap in the lives of those around them.

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  2. May we never forget them.or as we say here in Aussie "Lest We Forget"

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  3. Wow, I hope to go see the original wall in a few days. I will be up there and hope to see many of the monuments. My first time.

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