Christmas Day at the Vietnam Memorial

By: Ish124c41 - [social]
I went down to the Wall on Christmas Day. It was clear, windy, and cold. A thin, but steady stream of visitors passed by. Maybe twenty or so offerings were left, a few wreathes, some flowers, a couple of lit candles. No big floral displays. Nothing was left at the Vietnam Women's Memorial. The large Christmas tree the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund puts up annually was situated at the center of the Wall. It was festooned with Christmas greetings people sent in, and the remainder was placed in boxes at the base of the tree. This year people sent in 5,000 cards, about double the usual count. One of them was from a W.W.II vet who thanked the Vietnam vets for all they did for their country. I took a picture of it.

Met a Vietnam vet who was visiting the names of three of his buddies on the Wall. His first time; it was very hard for him. He came because his doctor told him he needed to in order to gain closure. He wasn't sure it was helping. The PTSD won't let him sleep, and he's been in and out of the hospital repeatedly. He's in a vets group at the VA. Once he took a shot at his wife because she looked more like a VC to him than the VC did.

I put my arm around him as he was bent over at the Wall and asked him if he was all right. That's when we started talking. He said his friends died for nothing, that the war was worthless. I said that was an issue we all grappled with, and I didn't have a good answer to give him. He told me about his buddy Frankenstein and what a nice guy he was. Only Frankenstein got the thousand yard stare, and he knew Frankenstein wasn't going to make it, he started taking too many chances and it caught up with him. He thanked me for my comforting him, and then walked off. He must have gotten tired walking on his artificial leg using a cane, because I saw a woman pushing him in a wheelchair as they departed. Maybe he was a bad shot.

I feel a little awkward in these kinds of situations because I wasn't there and don't have the credentials. I certainly don't have the answers. I hope a helping hand and a willing heart will suffice. My personal resolution is that the US paid a heavy price to learn certain lessons which should be passed on to future generations to spare them some of the pain. But I am a prophet without honor in my own country.

I stayed on another half hour or so and left because of the cold. The flag was waving with that little popping sound in the breeze as it strengthens.

Dr. David Chananie is an expert on the Vietnam war. He speaks internationally on radio talk shows about the topic: "Let's Remember Vietnam, Not Repeat It." His latest book is Not Yet At Ease: Photographs of America's Continuing Engagement With the Vietnam War. Writer's Digest and the Publishers Marketing Association have both awarded prizes for this book.

Please visit www.NotYetAtEase.com for more information. The "Essays" section contains other articles and more than 150 free pictures of the Vietnam Memorial and associated activities.

>>Reprint/Distribution Source : ArticleWareHouse.com