My daughter's family visited D.C this weekend. Both are serving in the USAF assigned to Dover AFB.
Daughter is currently deployed to Andrews AFB near DC.
They spent some time at the wall as my wife and I did last June.
The attached photo is of a section of the Wall with my Daughter & two Granddaughters reflections on it.

God Bless to all the veterans who's names are on the wall.

Corrine___Girls_reflection_on_the_wall..jpg (146 Kb, 21 downloads)

Come on now. This is a military forum and this post been here for almost a week.
You mean that just a few have visted the wall and other memorials?

never been there, maybe someday.....

Bull, I've had to content myself with visisting the moving wall when it came to my area. Not everybody has the wearwithall or funds to travel to Washington, DC but it doesn't mean they don't care. The names of six of my classmates from high school are on that wall.

Someday I will get there, I do go to cemetaries, and visit those I see that were military, and especially if they have mounument up.

I found one in a very small cemetary, with a large obilisk dedicated to troops in that grave site..

Very cool out in the middle of no where. Very somber to see that way out there in no mans land, I rode for 30 minutes and come around a corner and there it was..

GerryRM3,
I was just trying to point out that when in the D.C. area one should try thier best to visit the memorials. I'm 55 and findly visited D.C last year. Wouldn't have done it except my daughter and her husband are assigned to Dover AFB a hour or so's drive.
Lots of folks visit the wall daily. When I was there they were no stop visitors in the rain.

So I figured we have to have quite a few vets on here who have seen the wall. Maybe have a few pic's to share.

Thankuvets,
Excellent riding and checking out the cemetary. Last October my wife had a conference in Savannah, GA and I went along. Beaufort National is located in SC. so I drove the 45 minutes to visit it while my wife was doing business.
Three out of for brothers were killed in the civil war fighting for the Union Army. Two burried in Beaufort National Cementary and one is MIA according to records. One burried in a marked grave and another is suspected as being burried in the unknown section.
With the help of the grounds keeper we found the marked grave.
The caretaker even gave me a flag when I mentioned I was going to find Wal-Mart and get a flag.
It was a very rewarding experance.

Savannah,_GA_Trip_081.jpg (207 Kb, 8 downloads)

I’ve been to The Wall twice. First time was in 1985 with my wife and two young sons.

I wrote this shortly after we came home;

"The Wall"

”A slab of black granite that I was afraid of
Afraid because of the many names that I know inscribed
Sometimes I wish mine was there so I could be with my brothers
Survivors guilt I'm told
I'll be with them someday and we will go on patrol once more
Until then, I touch the cold stone and your names
While you touch my soul”



Second time was in 2002 when the 506th Airborne Infantry Association held a reunion in Maryland. Eight members of my old company met for the first time since we left RVN.




As written on the 506th Airborne Infantry Associations web site

"Due to prior commitments, some of the Currahee veterans from D Co, 1-506th, 1969 attending the 2002 Currahee Reunion could not participate in the Saturday, August 17, Bus Trip to Washington, DC, so they drove down on Friday, August 16, to the Vietnam Wall for their own special ceremony.
E-7 Ron Kane was awarded a Silver Star for his actions on Hill 996 on July 11, 1969; however, Ron was wounded and hospitalized, and the Army sent him his Silver Star in the mail after he returned home, so Ron was unable to participate in the official ceremony where he would have been pinned with the Silver Star by his CO. The Delta Company veterans attending the Reunion were determined to rectify this situation. MAJ(R) Gerald Curtis (LT in D Company in 1969) presents E-7 Ronald Kane a miniature of the Silver Star that he earned on July 11, 1969 on Hill 996"

(L-R): Richard "Doc" Daniels; Sal Gonzalez (RTO), Ronald "Gumby" Kane; Jim "Bike" Hoyt (also a Silver Star recipient on Hill 996), Bryan Rapp (M-60 Gunner), and Bill "Frisbee" Farnie (that's me)

Opps ... I thought it was 2000 but I just looked at what I copied/pasted from the 506th Assoc. site and it was 2002 .. Duh ..

This message has been edited. Last edited by: 101D1506,

Thats cool !

quote:

Originally posted by Bullhunter:
Thats cool !

While we had our little ceremony for Gumby everyone who was on the walkway stopped and watched. No one tried to pass and when we were done there was applause and cheering … yea it was cool alright.

I was in D.C. on business and decided to visit The Wall. Several friends had urged me to go but they warned me not to go alone on my first visit. Of course, I didn't listen to them about making my first visit alone. I'm such a tough old bird that it wouldn't bother me. I was wrong! I plan to go back when I get the chance but I will take someone with me this time.

I was to young for Vietnam but I have been to the Wall three times and the mobile Wall once. The last time was to get a name rub for a friend of mine whose father was killed at Khe Sanh, she couldn't make the trip up.

The most profound experience was the second visit. I was walking along and reading the letters and notes put there by friends and family of the killed when a father and daughter, the girl was probably 8 or 9, walked up behind me. I couldn't help but overhear what they were saying.

The little girl asked her father:

Did all these people really die in the war?

And he replied yes.

She said: "oooh that makes me sad"


All I could do was look at her with tears on my face and quickly walk away.


I have been to just about every Civil War battlefield and there is an energy you feel there, it can be overwhelming. I also feel that at the Wall, the spirit of every person on that Wall is there and can be felt.

I've always said every school child should go and every president elect should go. Both for the same exact reason. To see what war does to human beings.

Been to the wall 3 times. The first time I cried like a baby in front of my wife and two daughters. The last two times I only viewed it from a distance because I knew if I went close enough to see the names I'd be a basket case for two days. I hope God has a special punishment for the people responsible for the pain, suffering and death their decisions caused. Maybe an eternity of swimming in the blood and listening to the screams of the wounded and dying might be appropriate. It's hard not to be bitter...... God Bless you all.

You might want to view this privately.

http://home.comcast.net/~singingman7/TNOTW.htm

Thanks to some great high school students, I along with other vets were invited "free of charge" on a bus trip to DC to visit the wall last year. It was emotional for all of us. It was my second time. The first time I couldn't go near it, this time I touched it and I lost it. The tears started and I finally let it out after almost 40 years since I left Nam. It was an experience I'll never forget as long as I live. I thank God every night for those high school students who gave me the chance to show my respect to my fellow vets. I always had my doubts about our future generation. But this showed me that some kids really care about our generation.

GUESS WHERE THE "ALL VOLUNTEER" MILITARY COMES FROM??

THEY ARE THE SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF VIETNAM VETERANS!!