I tried to get to the panel on the wall that has his name but couldn't figure out how to do it. This is my high school friend who gave his life in Vietnam for the USA. The note from his platoon sergeant is good. The note from Mike says it all. I miss you too---both of you.
When I was on a fire in West Virginia we spent the night in Washington D.C. getting ready to come home. Several of us visited the WALL. I had an experience and may have blogged about it before but here 'tis again. I went to the book to look up the panel where his name was and there were hundreds of people along the wall - including the graduating class from Annapolis in full dress uniform. One of my good friends was with me but stopped when I started down the wall---as I started down it I was the only person left along it (I have no clue where the others went). I sat down and etched his name onto a piece of paper so I could bring it home (I couldn't find the paper today or I would have put it here too).
When I finished I looked around and realized I was alone on the Wall - I looked up at the deck where you can look down on the wall and the entire graduating class from Annapolis was standing along the rail looking down watching me etch his name onto the paper. I hope they understood the pain I had while etching his name as they were soon to be our newest Military Leaders. As I walked back up the wall my friend joined me and asked "What did you do to make all of the people leave the Wall?" I told him I didn't have a clue but they must have understood that I needed to be alone for a few minutes---I hope someday I either go back and re-do the etching or find the one I brought home that trip.
This post brought many tears regarding my loss - all of our loss for that matter.
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