Vietnam Memorial Wall
My wife and I visited Washington,
D.C. and while we were there we went to see the Vietnam Memorial. Although not
a combat veteran, I am a United States Marine Corps veteran of the Vietnam War,
having served in the Marines from 1961-1967. At that time a six year commitment
was required, and I elected to serve three years on active duty and three years
in the Marine Corps Reserve.
The Vietnam War, also known as
the Second Indochina War, was a conflict in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos from
November 1, 1955 to April 30, 1975. In Vietnam it was known as the American
War. There was also violence and demonstrations here at home in the United
States, as many spoke out against the war and protested our involvement. The
military doesn’t make government policy nor does it declare war. We protect and
serve our country as we’ve been trained to do, but upon returning home after
the Vietnam War many who served their country were treated badly, as were their
family members who had stayed behind and waited for their return. The war was
very divisive in America, and it remains so today.
At the height of the war, in
1969, there were half a million U.S. military personnel stationed in Vietnam. Nearly
60,000 Americans died there, along with nearly two million civilians and over a
million Vietnamese fighters. It was a civil war between the North Vietnamese
and The South Vietnamese. The government of the south had asked for our help in
keeping their democracy. It was time in world history when democracy was being
threatened by the takeover of communism. It was the worst of times.
Many in our military never made
it home. They were killed in Vietnam. I had friends who were among them, and I
wanted to pay them homage for their service and sacrifice while we were in the nation’s
capital. 57,939 members of the U.S. Armed Forces had their names inscribed on
the Vietnam Memorial Wall, which was dedicated in 1982. Additional names have
been added since then, including eight women plus over 100 servicemen who were
Canadians. As of May 2018 the total
number of inscriptions is 58,320. The wall itself is actually two walls of
black granite, each one over 246 feet in length and reaching up from three feet
to a height of ten feet, one pointing to the Lincoln Monument, the other toward
the Washington Memorial. There are directories at either end which help
visitors find where the names of their loved ones are inscribed on the wall,
and many who come there take rubbings of those names and even leave mementos on
the ground below.
As my wife and I approached the
memorial, tears welled up in my eyes. We were deeply moved by the number of
those who had died serving their country. My heart ached for their families and
their losses, many of whom continue to grieve even to this day, as I do. Even
though I wasn’t in combat, my heart was still with them on the battlefield. It
still is. Tears still come into my eyes as I reflect on the Vietnam War.
