Chris Johnston
Omono
Vance, I learned something about you today that perhaps had never registered with me before. I did not know you are a Viet Nam veteran.
Please let me say, "Thank you for your service." It doesnt' get said enough, especially to veterans of unpopular wars. I have visited the Wall in Washington, and it was quite moving. Not as moving, however, as volunteering at the Traveling Wall when it came to Kansas City, Kansas. My wife and I started out feeling like useless appendages, but once we got the hang of how it was set up differently from the one in Washington, the opportunity to help folk find their loved ones' names was something I will never forget.
One young black woman came, looking for her father, I think. She was a bodybuilder, massively muscled and tough as nails. I had to take the rubbing for her because she couldn't even hold the pencil.
An older man came up and mentioned a name. I realized the Oxford English Dictionary-sized index was already opened to the correct page, so I took him to find his son. When I got back, several volunteers realized they had helped other family members find the same name. Apparently the large family had stayed in the area all these years.
Seeing so many Viet Nam vets with their hats, key chains, shirts, etc. with the Viet Nam campaign ribbon in one form or another had a big part in connecting me to the earlier parts of my own generation. I am a trailing baby boomer, too young to go to Viet Nam, too old for Gulf wars. But with a father who fought in WWII, and a daughter in the army and son-in-law with a purple heart from Iraq, my heart is full with love and concern for those who fight to keep us free.
Vance, thank you for your service.
Please let me say, "Thank you for your service." It doesnt' get said enough, especially to veterans of unpopular wars. I have visited the Wall in Washington, and it was quite moving. Not as moving, however, as volunteering at the Traveling Wall when it came to Kansas City, Kansas. My wife and I started out feeling like useless appendages, but once we got the hang of how it was set up differently from the one in Washington, the opportunity to help folk find their loved ones' names was something I will never forget.
One young black woman came, looking for her father, I think. She was a bodybuilder, massively muscled and tough as nails. I had to take the rubbing for her because she couldn't even hold the pencil.
An older man came up and mentioned a name. I realized the Oxford English Dictionary-sized index was already opened to the correct page, so I took him to find his son. When I got back, several volunteers realized they had helped other family members find the same name. Apparently the large family had stayed in the area all these years.
Seeing so many Viet Nam vets with their hats, key chains, shirts, etc. with the Viet Nam campaign ribbon in one form or another had a big part in connecting me to the earlier parts of my own generation. I am a trailing baby boomer, too young to go to Viet Nam, too old for Gulf wars. But with a father who fought in WWII, and a daughter in the army and son-in-law with a purple heart from Iraq, my heart is full with love and concern for those who fight to keep us free.
Vance, thank you for your service.
