The Vietnam Wall

[MissTaken]

Who has been there?

How did it impact you?

I went to visit in High School. Even then, I felt it was a bit late in coming.

For me, standing at the wall, reading the names of those lost in the war, it felt as thought time stood still. As if there were no breeze, no noise, just me and the souls of those lost in the war/conflict that affected so many and nearly tore our nation apart and certainly tore many lives apart.

Please, share your experience at the Vietnam Wall .

 

[His_kitty]

A few years ago they had a memorial near my hometown....

I remember holding my mother while she sobbed as she traced her finger over the name of the man she had been engaged to. The only one to die in the war from our town.

I cried along with her for a man I never met and all the other men who were listed.

 

[Cheyenne]

I was there for the first time earlier this year. I expected to cry, but didn't. I knew no one on the wall, but wanted to see it anyway.

The little gifts left at the wall, the flowers, the poems, etc. does make your breath catch in your throat. I imagine it would be both difficult and comforting at the same time to visit the memorial if you know the people behind the names carved there.

An image that sticks with me is the books that are available to look up exactly where on the wall a name could be found. They are like phone books, in protected podiums. It was sad to see people searching the books for the names of their loved ones.

 

[JazzManJim]

I've been there a couple or three times. It's not very difficult, mostly because I don't live that far from DC, and when I get in the mood to see the memorials, The Wall is something I always go to see.

The most striking memory I have was from the first time I ever visited The Wall. There was a guy about 50 feet away from me who, if I had seen him on the street, would have walked the other way. He was wearing Biker colors and looked tougher than tough. It was obvious that he had been through hard times and could do them again and survive damned well.

He was standing with one hand on the wall with his head bowed and as I watched him, I saw a couple of drops hit the ground. When he lifted his head, the tears were just racing down his cheeks into his beard, which was saturated with tears.

Man, that ripped out my heart that the memories of folks lost would bring a man with that much iron in him to that many tears.

I actually spoke with him a few minutes later, for about a half-hour (while my friends were looking up older relatives and such on the Wall) and the stories he told me in that short time were among the most intersting I'd ever heard.

 

[lorddragonwolf]

i have not been there yet but do plan on visiting. i have talked to several vetrens that served in nam. the stories i have heard range from horrible to funny. i have heard from them all that they would gladely do it again.

and they have even said they would go and look for those left behind.

 

[bored1]

I visited the memorial back in the late 80s, I found it to be a very moving experience, especially when i found the names of 2 individuals who had gone to my high school. The statue of the young men looking at the wall added to the feeling of sadness.

 

[Secret Kate]

I visited the Wall and a lot of the DC area

in the late 90s. Was very moving. I was one of those flipping through the book to find a name, and where they were on the wall. My husband and I didn't know if either of us had a relative on the wall.

I found my maiden name listed and found that spot on the wall. Not sure if this was a relative or not, but it held some significance with me. My husband took a close up picture of the name, with my fingers pointing it out.

When I got the pictures developed I spoke to my dad about it. He told me it was his cousin Daniel. He grew up with him. My dad shared many of his childhood memories with me of him and Daniel. It was very moving.

I wish now that I had a flower or something that I could have left there.

 

[MissTaken]

I have visited other memorials and sites, some seem to have mre impact than others.

I wonder if it is because I remember bits and pieces about Vietnam from my youth or that so many people I know have been impacted by the conflict, but the Wall really touched a chord with me.

 

[iwmggw]

I went to the wall when they inaugurated it. And I just got back from its 20th anniversary today. Spent the weekend in DC. When I first heard of its conception, I felt insulted. When I came home from that hell called Vietnam.......I was spit on and called baby killer. Then I hear we/re going to have some black slash in the ground.....and the designer was an asian no less.......just another slap in the face. Then I got there, and saw it for the first time. Seeing all those names.........and the reactions of all those gathered there, gave me a new lease on my life. The bitterness left me as fast as the tears flowed out of me. I met friends, vets, brothers, some of whom I thought had died. I looked up the names of high school friends..........but I couldn't find the courage to look up those names I was responsible for. There were 14 of us on that mission, and 2 got out.........I've been haunted ever since. Well this year I did it , said my goodbyes, my apologies, and told all those forever young buddies.........this old man will be seein' them pretty soon. Time and the honor of serving with them has eased my pain , I know now, there was nothing I could do to change what happenned....and I no longer feel guilty that my name isn't up there with them. I have seen too, how wrong I was about the design/designer. She did a great service to my brothers..........and created something that transends a simple memorial. I will rest easy when I join them and salute all of you that have honored them with your presence.

 

[Dixon Carter Lee]

I went. I was moved. I wasn't expecting to be. I didn't know anyone who went to Vietnam. It was extraordinary.

 

[tigerjen]

I was at the Wall for the first time back in '85 (family trip
w/ the parents and sister).....second time in '89 (class
trip to DC)........3rd time in '93........

I remember the first time there.......my mom was looking
for the name of an old boyfriend of hers, whom she dated
when she was in high school (way back in the day), and
she finally found it.....and took a picture of the name.....

But I think the second time I was at the Wall, I think it
had more of an impact on me......I was telling my friends
all about my mom and the old boyfriend, and I was frantically
looking for the name, which I finally found......I cried, and
my friends hugged me and cried too......

And seeing the flowers, and photos, and stuffed bears,
letters, mementos.........makes your heart pretty darn
heavy.......

And even more....the people...esp. the veterans from the
war still living, and the families and friends of those who
died over there.......it makes the heart tug real bad.......


tigerjen

 

[morninggirl5]

I haven't been to Washington to visit the Wall. It's something my father wants me to do with him, so maybe one day. My father is now dealing with his time in Vietnam. For all those who served, and for all those left behind while they served, there are none who are "just a name on a wall."


I saw her from a distance as she walked up to the wall.
In her hand she held some flowers as her tears began to fall.
And she took out pen and paper, as to trace her memories.
She looked up to heaven, and the words she said were these:

She said, "Lord, my boy was special, and he meant so much to me!
And, oh, I'd love to see him, just one more time you see.
All I have are the memories and the moments to recall.
So Lord, could you tell him? He's more than a name on a wall!"

She said, "He really missed the family and being home on Christmas Day.
And he died for God and country in a place so far away.
I remember just a little boy, playing war since he was three.
But Lord, this time I know, he's not coming' home to me."

She said, "Lord, my boy was special, and he meant so much to me.
And, oh, I'd love to see him, but I know it just can't be.
So I thank you for my memories and the moments to recall.
But, Lord, could you tell him? He's more than a name on a wall!"

"Lord, could you tell him? He's more than a name on a wall!"

Words and Music by Jimmy Fortune and John Rimel.
Copyright ©1988 Statler Brothers Music

 

[celiaKitten]

I've been there three times, each time with my father - a vietnam vet, and my mother - who spent two years praying for him.

The first time, it was part of an anniversary trip for my father. It had been 15 years since he'd been home. I was very young then, 4 or 5. All I remember is hanging onto my older brother, worried because my dad was upset.

The next time was clearer. I understood where my father had gone, and what the wall represented. This time we had stopped to visit a friend of his from the war on the way. I remember seeing my father, a man who normally keeps his emotions reigned in, touch names and break down. I remember watching him say goodbye to his friend, seeing two old men, hugging each other, misty-eyed and speechless. But I was still too young (9 or 10) to really understand it.

This last time, I was 17. I'd seen the reel-to-reels my Dad had taken while in Vietnam. I'd met some of those he'd served with. I know that he missed the birth of his second child. After all of these years he's finally been able to talk about it a bit, and I've heard his stories of his shrapnel wounds, watching friends die, learning to love warm beer. That last time, we went to the wall. It was just me, my mom and my dad. I'd helped dad look up the different names he'd wanted to find. With each, we took a picture, and made a pencil-scratching, and Dad would tell mom and I something about the person.

That wall is very alive, and it's *only* names. It's moving in the simplicity of it .. so huge .. so many people. Standing there with my Dad .. seeing all those names .. feeling so sad for those family grieving those names still .. yet so grateful that my father wasn't among them...

I love my father. He's a great man, one of the best I've known. In a way, that wall is not only a memorial to those who lost their lives .. but a memorial to those great people, like my father, who sacrificed so much of themselves, their families, their own potential lives ahead of them, to come home to be spit on.