This
page is under constant change,please visit here often to reflect on an era we
all once shared together
Memories
In honor of our casualties from the
Vietnam War, I dedicate these pages. The feelings expressed here are the heart
and soul of our experience.
Murry
I laid my brother down, pillowed by the muddy sod.
I placed him there carefully, but he whispered not a
sound.
He was sleeping you see, dreaming his everlasting dream.
I sat there beside him, as I washed his face, and comb
his hair.
He was going home now, and his mother shouldn't see him
this way.
I remembered the plans we made when to the world, we
returned.
Oh the times we were going to have, just Murry and me.
It wasn't suppose to be this way, we were to go home
together.
They put Murry into a plastic bag, I wondered how he
would breathe, later he laid in a steel box,
I wondered if he was still afraid of the dark. Murry's
still sleeping, while I remain awake.
It wasn't suppose to be that way, we were to come home
together.
It wasn't suppose to be that way at all, we should have
come home together.
Jym.
Untitled
For us it was the six o'clock news, for them it was reality
We called for pizza, They called for medics
We watched children play, They watched children die.
We learned of life, They learned of death.
We served dinner, They served their country.
Our passion was success, Theirs was survival.
We forgot, They can't.
Author - Unknown
They
came from many places, "Little Do They Know"
.
They say, "There's no one buried here", but, litle do they know.
Look into my Brother's eyes, a distant gaze will show.
He came down here to see the Wall, a tribute to our dead,
All the while hearing whispers, playing games within his head.
"It's nice to see you brother". "It's been a long, long time".
He hears these voices from the past as he reads names line by line.
"We're still not home". cries out the names preceded by a cross.
"Please bring us back", they cry and cry with voices long grown hoarse.
"Hey Airborne, how's it going"? yells a name on 165E.
"Glad to see you made it back to the land of liberty".
Another name, another voice...comes ringing crisp and true,
"Hey brother ! You look familiar".
"Did I see you in Pleiku"?
But, unlike all the other voices coming from the Wall,
This one sounds familiar, a voice he can recall.
He sdtares ahead and sees HIMSELF, his medals on his chest,
And for a fleeting moment, he's dead with all the rest.
They say, "There's no one buried here", but little do they know.
I saw a GOLD STAR MOTHER not very long ago.
She comes here pretty often, I see her now and then.
She comes down here to see her son. We called him "Gentle Ben".
Sometimes she brings him flowers. Sometimes she leaves a note.
She said he was so very young, just old enough to vote.
She tells him how things are back home and brings him up to date.
She says that, "All's been going well, dad even fixed the gate".
"He would have come this time, for sure, I thought he'd finally make it".
"He says each time he'll come, but I know he just can't take it".
"He's proud of you, our only son". "You carried on his name".
"But, since they told him that you're dead, he's never been the same".
"When I get home he'll sit me down and ask me where I've been".
"He'll sit by me and hold me close and ask if you're still thin".
"He'll ask me many questions, the hardest one of all is"'
"What he ever did to you, you never,ever call".
They say, "There's no one buried here", but little do they know.
***
Last night, I met a widow, her son and daughter in tow.
She had "The Stare", I know that stare, I've seen that stare before.
She was very quiet, just stood there at the door.
Her son said, "Can you help me sir"? My dad was killed in Nam".
"It happened nineteen years ago, now no one gives a damn".
"They said it was an acident, a test flight and you see",
"It happened in Cambodia, is all that's known to me".
I asked, "How old are you"? "19"? He's merely just a lad,
Like many others of his age, he never knew his dad.
His dad was in the "101". I know some of those guys,
"I'll find out what I can", I said, "There won't be any lies".
A test hop in Cambodia? That doesn't ring quite true,
But, stranger things have happened in a war where me and you,
Did whatever we had to, for the old "Red, white and blue".
All the while, the "Reaper" stuck to us like glue.
* * *
They say, "There's no one buried here", but little do they know.
We brothers that hear voices from very long ago,
Will tell you just how wrong they are, it may not be a tomb,
But, the Wall is full of spirits and a love that's yet to bloom.
They say, "There's no one buried here", but little do they know.
If not, then why do mothers place flags and flowers in a row,
Beneath the very panel who's lines contain the name
Of her son who gave his all in a war that left us lame?
***
They say, "There's no one buried here", but little do they know.
Just ask the sons and daughters who'll stand there in the snow,
Looking at the Wall for a face they hope will show
Of their fathers who they lost in a war so long ago.
They say, "There's no one buried here", but little do they know.
The gaze in the eyes of us brothers will never, ever go
Away because a piece of us is buried between each row.
They say, "There's no one buried here", but little do they know.
.
by: Tom Wieber at The Wall, New Years Eve 1989
THINGS YOU DIDN’T DO .
Remember the day I borrowed your new car and dented it? I thought you’d kill me, but you didn’t.
And remember the day I dragged you to the beach, and you said it would rain, And it did?
I thought you’d say "I told you so", but you didn’t.
Do you remember the time I flirted with all the guys to make you jealous, and you were? I thought you’d leave me, but you didn’t.
Do you remember the time I spilled strawberry pie all over your car rug? I thought you’d hit me, but you didn’t.
YES, there were lots of things you didn’t do. But you put up with me, and you loved me, and you protected me.
There were lots of things I wanted to make up to you when you returned from Vietnam. But you didn’t.
Anonymous
Family Tradition .
My Great, great grandfather fought in the war of Independence, and helped give this country birth.
My Great grandfather fought in the Civil War, helping to keep this country whole.
My Grandfather fought in the first World War,and lived in the trenches in France.
My Father fought in World War Two, and in Korea.
His wars were fought at sea.
My time for war came with VietNam, they said they needed me.
For over two hundred years, my fathers and I have marched to war. Each time we prayed that this march would be the last.
Each of us had but one thought, we prayed that our sons would not be required to carry on, the family tradition.
Jym.
This is for: Levi Parker, 3rd Mass reg, Continental army.
Joseph Fox, Co G, 87 Penn vol inf Army of the Potomac.
D.H. Miller Sr USA
D.H.Miller Jr USN
