Recently, someone asked me what I think about when the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C. comes to mind.  Over the years my thoughts have coalesced into one recurring image and my feelings that go with it.  I am sharing this with you on Veteran’s Day, as a Vietnam 4th Generation Veteran.  I hope my thoughts will strike a cord with you.  God Bless All of Us, and God Bless America.

     I was an aircrew member of an Air Force reconnaissance aircraft that was the last U.S. military aircraft to leave the territorial airspace of South Vietnam on April 30, 1975, the day Saigon fell.  Our bed-down base in Thailand was besieged with all sorts of South Vietnamese Air Force planes when they fled the country.  The planes often landed without any radio contact with our airfield control tower.  After seeing this spectacle, we went to our hootches for the night, but were back on the flightline at 0700 hrs the next morning.  My pal, Jerry, and I just stood there in profound silence, looking at all of those SVAF planes that did not belong there, but, were scattered haphazardly everywhere.  Both of us felt this overwhelming sadness because we had witnessed the death throes of a country until the last twitch from the lifeless body.

     That same profound silence and overwhelming sadness comes back to me whenever I visit the Vietnam Memorial.  It’s a humbling experience, and I’ve never seen anyone who does not have a sense of reverence during their visit to the wall.  It’s only my feeling that the souls listed on the wall are watched over by angels, as it should be, for the supreme sacrifice they each made.  Every one of them deserves that respect and reverence…we can never repay the 58,000 dead.  In a way, the men & women listed on that wall have a level of peace & understanding that their comrades who made it home haven’t had.

     To those 58,000 lost souls, I can only render a hand salute and say: “By the grace of God, from the bottom of my heart, thank-you for your service.”