"The Wall" brings me to my knees....again

[BLEW911]

I went to see the 3/4 size traveling Vietnam Memorial Wall this morning. Just like the last time I did this I stood with tears in my eyes remembering friends, part of the huge number of young boys that died. The amount of sacrifice and sadness on this wall breaks my heart.

[MOMO3.2]

I visited the Vietnam Memorial about 10 years ago with my wife and two children. The visit was just one of the stops on our tour of D.C. I had no expectations. Well, I am with you Don. Standing in front of all those names brought my wife and I to tears. The realization of all those young lives lost was overwhelming.

Mike

[Rick V]

I was blown away by that memorial. (the one in DC) I walked through, paying my respects and just reflecting on the fact that those names are people. I hadn't noticed while I was there, but the sounds of the city fall away as you descend into the monument. It wasn't until I started to climb up the gentle slope on the exiting side that I noticed the city was starting to fade back. It is almost like you simply walk into another place when you visit, and it is so subtle, I am sure most don't even notice. Of all the monuments, that one, either by design or just luck, is so subtle it knocks you over and you never see it coming.

[Jim Bremner]

There's a print of the wall, with a gentleman in a business suit with his head bowed down an hand on the wall.

In the wall you see fellow soldiers in their twenties, in full 60's-70's battle gear leaning out toward him.

I saw it in a shopping mall. That alone made me cry. I couldn't imagine seeing the real wall.

I'm in my 40's and didn't serve. God Bless the men that did.

[BeyGon]

I went there a couple years ago with my wife, I got to the wall and couldn't go any farther, I wanted to see some names but just couldn't do it. I don't even like doing this I check this spot once in a while but that's it.

http://thewall-usa.com/

[NavySailor47]

It puts tears in my eyes every time I visit our monuments like this. It reminds me why I serve for this country. I love America.

[widgeon13]

I found it hard to visit, difficult to leave and even more difficult to forget, especially when you recognize so many friends, much more than just names in stone.

[John_AZ]

Originally Posted by Jim Bremner

There's a print of the wall, with a gentleman in a business suit with his head bowed down an hand on the wall.

In the wall you see fellow soldiers in their twenties, in full 60's-70's battle gear leaning out toward him.

I saw it in a shopping mall. That alone made me cry. I couldn't imagine seeing the real wall.

I'm in my 40's and didn't serve. God Bless the men that did.

I know how you feel.

John_AZ

[david914]

Originally Posted by john_az

i know how you feel.

John_az

+1000

[Gordo2]

I brought my son there a few weeks ago:



Doesn't matter how old or young you are - it commands respect.

Gordo

[nynor]

they need one for the civil war.

my father narrowly escaped the viet nam conflict. knowing a couple of nam veterans, i am glad he did.

[BeyGon]

Just found this, it's as close as I could get.

[TimT]

Who knows where you can buy poster/high res copy of this pic?

[look 171]

That's the one place I have to take my young boys to go and see. I was there in my mid 20's and was thinking about all those that died on both sides and the crap the people of Viet Nam and Cambodia had to deal with. when I was in grade school, a young couple that came from Cambodia used to tell my mother stories of their little baby who straved to death when they were trying to flee the country. They had no choice but to leave their dead baby on the side of the road. Until today, I still can not get over that. I can't begin to feel their pain. That was one of the reason I had to see memorial.

Have you guys ever seem the book of the wall? It had some tear jerking pictures and letters in there. I think ABC did something on this American GI who came upon a Viet Cong solder on a trail and looked at each other and the GI fires first and killed the VC. He took from the dead solder's a photo of him and his little girl. He could not let it go after all these years. I think he (with ABC's help after they found a letter he wrote to the dead solder he had shot when he visited the Wall.) went to Viet nam to see this girl, now a grown woman with kids of her own. I cried like a baby through the entire thing thinking about my old neighbors from Cambodia.

[porsche4life]

The traveling was in my town recently, due to class and work I couldn't make. I know my uncle always does to pay his respects to the men that were lost that were under his command. Some of the stuff he talks about. Its just horrendous.

[azasadny]

The Korean War memorial in DC really gets to me, much more so than the Vietnam memorial. I think it's because of the "almost life-size" statues...

[deanp]

My Dad served in Vietnam with the Marines. He was on his way out at the start of the Tet Offensive. He had never been the The Wall. I took him to the newly opened Marine Corp Museum, Iwo Jima Statue and the Wall for his 60th birthday, two years ago, just the two of us. I know it meant a lot to each of us, even though it was so sad and so moving to be there. We found the names of three guys that enlisted at the same time as him and didn't make it back and did the rubbings of their names on paper. He has said he would like to go back to the Marine Corp Museum, but I am not sure he'd make another stop at the Wall.

[David McLaughlin]

Here's a pic I took of my son when the traveling wall came to my area a few years ago. My son is pointing to my father's name...


It's not as powerful as the solders' reflections poster, but I think it's pretty moving (at least for me).

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by David McLaughlin

It's not as powerful as the solders' reflections poster, but I think it's pretty moving (at least for me).

It is moving for all of us, David. My best to the memory of your Father.

[widgeon13]

Originally Posted by seahawk

it is moving for all of us, david. My best to the memory of your father.

+1