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A place of rest, and some conversation

St. Mark's Episcopal church is located on the square in Wadsworth and is right next to where the west end of the wall was. They had offered a place for prayer in their sanctuary and provided a place to rest, free coffee and water. I had gone up there to get some water for myself and my wife and got into conversation with two people. One was a Vietnam vet and the other was from the church, a native of Singapore. The young lady from Singapore had shared with us that even though many Americans didn't know why our country was in Vietnam, the people of her country did, and were grateful. She shared with us that the Asian countries were set to fall like dominoes to communism had American forces not been in Vietnam.

I had mentioned to the vet that I couldn't understand why soldiers returning home after serving their tour of duty were treated the way they were by their fellow citizens. These young men, for the most part, were drafted into the service and had no choice in where they served. According to the fact sheets I posted below, at least 25,000 of the casulties were 20 years old or younger. As I said previously, they couldn't legally drink anything stronger than 3.2 beer, they weren't old enough to vote, but they were old enough to die for our country. They died for the freedom those folks who spit on them take for granted.

Comments

Anonymous said…
We were there for the closing ceremonies and seen a family locate the name of the loved one on the wall. Very emotional. The museum was very interesting, enjoyed it very much. Brougt back memories of the trip to DC I took w/ my daughter's 8th grade class. What I didn't know, until yesterday, that there was a 15 year old over there and many 16 & 17 year olds. My heart went out to their mothers.
God Bless all our soldiers (from past & present)
B.
June 02, 2008 10:39 AM
Liquid said…
Every generation of men in my family have served our country.
Both in war and as a lifetime career. My son is next and cannot wait to become a soldier.

My men make me proud.
My country allows this pride.

Awesome posts, Cliff.........simply, awesome.
June 02, 2008 11:15 AM
Stylin said…
I had chills as I read this.
I am so honored by our men and women in the Armed Forces
On my trip,I carried my stepsons carry on suitcase.IT was a camoflage bag with army stickers all over and one said POW,MIA.If you cant bring them back ,ship us there.I had people staring at me all thro the trip and back.
June 02, 2008 11:37 AM
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