MEMORIAL DAY: 2001
It was dead quiet until about 7. You could have parked right on Constitution Avenue. Buddy apparently was not going to show up as promised, so I, with great apprehension wandered through the mist to the Viet Nam Memorial.
I had never been there alone before, let alone at 5.A.M. It was an eerie feeling, yet totally peaceful. It was as though the names on the wall were visiting me, not me them.
I wandered through the Memorial, looking at the things people had left. A package of Marlboro's for Charlie, A framed picture of a soldier, who had been killed so many years ago.
I thought to myself, "Well at least that one now has a face on the wall."
There were wreathes there to be presented to fallen brothers from various units, and people to honor their friends from so long ago. There were the notes from schoolteachers asking for help to teach our children the truth and lessons of Viet Nam, and I thought, "Where were these teachers 30 years ago". There were little flags; Canadian, POW and American, There were letters from school children, mothers, and wives. There was a can of Schlitz, a Zippo, and a single burning candle. All of those things meant something to someone on the wall. Only the Donor knows for sure, but that is enough. They are not forgotten.
I sat at the wall and watched the sun come up, alone, and able to just take it all in, in total solitude.
I had much time to just think, and remember, and mourn, and talk to all of them without looking like a fool... I remember it was the best of times, and it was the worst of times. I remember the friendships and the smiles, I remember the shared terror we went through occasionally, and we talked about it... I remember the pain when I got the news the aircraft was gone, and the crew. But I remember. I remember it all. I will always remember.