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.