The Vietnam Memorial was dedicated on this day, November 13 in 1982. Its black granite walls have the names of 58,320 American veterans. Wikipedia’s page on the memorial discusses at length the detailed process of gathering and engraving the names and is worth reading. Thirty-eight names are included on the memorial who may not have died in Vietnam, including 14 the New York Times located and interviewed.
While in D.C. on business years ago, I had several free hours on a beautiful afternoon and visited the memorial. Out of curiosity, I searched at one of the kiosks there for my family name. Two were listed, one whom I didn’t recognize, and a second who bore my name, not at all a common one, though he had a slight difference in his middle name. I located and made a pencil carbon tracing of his engraved marking and keep it at my desk still.
I had become eligible for the draft in the final year before the end of the war, and the number for my birthday was high enough for me not to face what my namesake did. Seeing his name on the wall though was a chilling reminder of the many lives sacrificed and the effect of the war on the country. I researched the soldier online and, in time, made contact with his brother, who still marks the day of his death, May 17, now 56 years ago, as now do I.
I wrote the poem below to help process my experience at the memorial that day, though I still am saddened and chilled by it all. We all and our country lost so much there and must never forget.
