'The Wall' honors Vietnam vets for 20 years

Air Force Link ^ | 11/07/02 | Unknown

[HiJinx]

It really hits ya' in the gut. If you get a chance to take your kids there, be ready to deal with their emotions...

Didn't you buy a new keyboard earlier this year? I see you're having troubles with it again!!!

[habs4ever]

My mother lost her favourite cousin in Normandy, at the ripe age of 17, and no matter how long it has been since that event, it brings back the tears every year.The Black Watch Regiment, of Montreal, got wiped out in one of the most notorious snafus of WW2 and when she went to the mass cemetary in Caen, to see his grave, with thousands of others, the impact was overwhelming.The sorrow never goes away, not shall it for any Vietnam Vet, or their loved ones.

But it is good to have their sacrifice and memory well served by movies like We Were Soldiers Once so that a new generation can appreciate what these young men in Vietnam did.

[Militiaman7]

In Rememberance of Luther E.(Elmer) Preston

PVT - E1 - Marine Corps - Regular
18 year old Single, Caucasian, Male
Born on: Jul 16, 1949
From GRUNDY, VIRGINIA
Tour of duty began on: Oct 12, 1967
KIA: Nov 05, 1967, in QUANG NAM, SOUTH VIETNAM
Panel 29E - Row 026

Friend and Classmate

Rest in Peace

[Spunky]

The Traveling Wall is in Modesto, CA this weekend. First Baptist Church of Modesto is hosting the project. FBC Modesto is also presenting a drama each night. The drama presents a story of a day in the lives of a squad of men in Vietnam. The title is "Not Forgotten," and offers a healing message to so many Vets who served in that era. Information can be seen at www.fbcmodesto.com.

Is this wall in Modesto the Traveling Wall I heard talk radio host Rusty Humphries, say he was responsible for getting there? I missed what town he was talking about. He said his father died in Vietman.

He was telling how one night when he didn't have it covered with security someone came and stole $5000 worth of equipment. He felt so bad, but had so many people saying to hang in and not give up it wasn't his fault.

Then yesterday or the day before (I think) he got an early morning call saying the wind and rain had blown the wall down. He said not only was it down but it was a mess. He wanted to cry and was ready to give up. Then he remembered all the e-mails and calls to his radio station after the theft. They had encouraged him to "Hang in there." He then said; "D*m*t this wall is going to be up for Veterans day". He then put out a call and he said over a thousand people showed up to help get the wall back up.

He couldn't say enough about how the community had come together to help out.

[SAMWolf]

I think my fingers are just too darn big for these things or maybe i should stop dancing on it like Misty says.

[SAMWolf]

Luther E.(Elmer) Preston

[Jen]

Hi Misty! It's so good to see your graphics again.

[Militiaman7]

Thanks Brother

[MistyCA]

I am so sorry about your loss and the loss your mom suffered! I can well imagine how fresh the wound remains. My uncle talks of D-Day and landing at Omaha Beach as though it were yesterday. And the guilt of having survived that impossible situation is burdensome today! Thank you so much for your post and sharing your family's experience. I well know about the burden's being carried from Vietnam as well. There is a haunting in my family from those memories and the wounds that are carried. Some you see....some you don't. But always there is an urge to smash the television set when the likes of Hanoi Jane appear on the screen.

[SAMWolf]

RICHARD DENNIS WILEY
was born on July 12, 1951
and joined the Armed Forces while in DECATUR, IL.
He served as a 67A1F in the Army,
F.TRP.8TH CAV.11 AVN GP.1ST AV,
and attained the rank of SP4/E4.

RICHARD DENNIS WILEY is listed as Missing in Action.



You can find RICHARD DENNIS WILEY
honored on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on Panel 1W, Row 41.

I wore this man's POW/MIA Bracelet for years until I wore it out.
I had the Honor of meeting his mother in the late 1980's at a Memorial Day Parade in Decatur where I was providing the Honor Guard for a Traveling Wall.

[MistyCA]

Wow....what a tragedy that sounds like! I know that when the Vietnam Vets brought the wall to our town they could not leave it unattended for a moment...day or night. It is a sick thought that vandals would do damage to something which represents so much to so many, but sadly, they do. :(

[SAMWolf]

Thanks Souris. It's hard for my kids to understand how the daily casualties and combat footage coming across the TV afffectd the American people. It's a concept so foriegn to them.

[SAMWolf]

I heard that show. He lost his father there when he was three. He was so emotional when he told that story. He accepted full responsibilty for what happened. You could hear the pain in his vice. Thanks for telling us about the rest of the story.

[SAMWolf]

Your're welcome Militiaman7. Thanks for stopping by and sharing with us about Luther E.(Elmer) Preston

[MistyCA]

thanks, Jen! Good to see you too! :) Look what I found at the flea market today! :)

[redhead]

"The Traveling Wall is in Modesto, CA this weekend."

When the traveling Wall came to Waseca, MN a few years ago, my husband and I went to visit it. The experience was SO MOVING, and the depth of the feeling was so rich (there were benches placed nearby. All of them had at least one veteran, just sitting, some weeping, some just staring at the wall) that it was overwhelming. In deep grief, I found the name of the young brother-in-law I had never met, killed when his chopper was shot down.

It is very hard to describe the sorrow that envelops one when they walk along that wall. If the replica evokes this kind of feeling, I can't even imagine the anguish and grief that would be experienced at the original Wall.

God bless EVERY person represented on that wall, and God bless all who have served anywhere, those who are presently serving, and those who are yet to serve. We are FOREVER in your debt. Pray for us.

[MistyCA]

What an honor, indeed! I bet that doesn't happen very often. We lost one of the fellows from my highschool, Jerry Georges. Several from my husband's highschool were also lost, including one of the fellows he signed up with. It's so sad to look back at the pictures today and realize that at 17 yrs old these guys believed that they were responding honorably to the call of their country. Of course they were, but they were treated so badly when and if they came back home again! A life put in suspension because you never regain what is lost by that experience. It's so sad. All I can say is.....welcome home to all of those with the courage and honor to serve!

[Mustang]

Back to you Sam...It's a long trip from the North West to "The Wall"...but, if you ever have the opportunity..you'll forever appreciate the visit.

For me, it was an epiphany. I walked the walk down and up its path at several visits. I rubbed with graphite/paper the names of guys I knew, played stickball with and had as friends in my youth.

Thank God there is a place for their names to stay. They gave their all; their future, love, a women to love...a child to hug....a family to grow.

As a VietNam Vet, I am proud and humbled to have served with my friends.

Mustang sends.

[SAMWolf]

Since 1959 when the United states officially entered the Vietnam war approximately 40,000 Canadians voluntarily joined and served beside their brothers and sisters from the United States in all branches of the U.S. armed forces. Who can explain as to why they volunteered to serve in Vietnam. Perhaps it was because they believed in the right to choose, the right to liberty, the right of unrestrictiveness and privilege. Maybe they believed in Freedom and chose to fight for it. Sometimes we take what we have for granted, for those of us who enjoy freedom on an every day basis, we have those who fought for it to thank.

There are Fifty Eight Thousand, Two Hundred and Nine ( 58,209 ) names inscribed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C., one hundred and three (103) of those names are of known Canadians who served and did not return from the Vietnam war. Although these Veterans where honored along with their fellow brothers and sisters from the United States they were never recognized by their own country, Canada.

For over a century Canada and the United States have stood side by side not only as neighbours, but as one when it came to the freedom that both countries cherish. There are several Vietnam Veterans Memorial's located in Canada and in no way do we wish to diminish the importance of any of these memorials.

The significance of the Canadian Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, is that a small group in Michigan U.S.A. called M.A.C.V. (Michigan Association of Concerned Veterans), felt that their Canadian brothers and sisters, who gave their lives for the lives of others deserved to be recognized and accounted for, at home in Canada. This small group of Veterans proceeded to make this dream a reality, They fought through the many hardships that comes with caring, they designed, built, and donated the memorial to be placed on Canadian soil, making this Memorial very special to the families of those who gave their lives for the freedom of others.