Vietnam Memorial Coming to Canton, MA - 9/8-9/11/05

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Len-2A Training

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I saw some signs up in Canton advertising that the Vietnam Memorial was coming to Canton, MA on September 8th - 11th, 2005.

A check of The Moving Wall website http://www.themovingwall.org/ shows that this is a "copy-cat" Moving Wall http://www.themovingwall.org/copies.htm , but it should still be an emotional experience if you've never seen the real thing (either in DC or the real The Moving Wall).
 
Saw the real thing in the fall of '88...Dear God, it is very moving. Babies that were wailing seemed to hush when entering the memorial. There were alot of Vets there the time I went. Some openly weeping and touching the etched name of a fallen friend.

Be prepared: bring tissues.
 
I agree. I saw the real Moving Wall in N. Attleboro back in 1999. It was a very emotional experience. Some of my high school classmates are on that wall. I'm sure that some of my college friends are too, but since I don't remember where they all were from, it's very difficult to do a search on them and NU always was very pathetic on providing info on fallen alumni.
 
Took me over 30 years to go to D.C. to see the Wall. I go every year now and sit for a while. I was with the 101st Airborne in the Ashau.
 
There's nothing to thank me for. I was just one of millions that wanted to do what there Country asked.

My Father and Grandfather yelled and screamed at me for signing up. They both had Purple Hearts. My Mother cried for weeks. I was just 17. Three years later I had mine, I spent 3 months in the hospital at Devens. What was that war all about I still don't know. I sit at the wall and think was it worth it?

I look at the young kids now a days going into war and I think my God there all so young. If one of my kids today wanted to go I would scream and yell too.

Now I know how my family felt. My heart go's out to the Soldiers and their families.
 
My son 19 just left,and I couldn't scream and yell at him for doing something both his father and I did. I won't deny that it is the hardest thing I have done,but I am also extremely proud of him. You just give them all the information that they need to make that decision, and trust me I will be doing alot of praying. My mother in law pointed out to me this is the third time she has had to watch a family member go to war, and my husbands grandmother had both of her boys in war. One the Korean,and the other did 2 tours in VietNam. Which is where I draw my strength from.
 
I never mentioned it before, but military service runs fairly strong in my extended family. We were just doing our duty.

Hey Bugs, did you know a Grunt named Wilbern Marler while you were 101 by any chance? That'd be my Brother-In-Law, now a retired CSM.

Father (WW2, + 30+ years NG)
Step Mother (WW2)
2 Uncles (WW2, Korea and Vietnam)
Grandfather (WW1)
Self (Vietnam Era through now)
Wife (Vietnam Era)
Son (OIF)
2 Brothers (Vietnam Era)
Wife's 2 Brothers (Vietnam, GW1, Somalia, Kuwait)
Wife's 2 Sisters (plus one's Husband) ( 1-Vietnam Era)
Cousin (Currently and last 10+ years)
Wife's Cousins and ones Husband (Vietnam Era and Vietnam)


I'm not bragging, but you sure can see where my strength comes from. Kinda hard to bitch when about everybody has been there and done that. Needless to say, my son and brother-in-law were/are well taken care of.
 
Glenn's side covers all but the first Gulf War. My dad served in the time frame of Korea,but we don't know exately where he was. Just sort of know what he did. My brother and I and Glenn served during the Cold War. Son just left for this one.
 
I got to see the real deal for the first time last Sept.

All I can say is - stunning solemnity. It stuns you into another world when you look at those names. It's a shrine really.

As I started to walk by the very first section, the woman behind me said, "Oh my God, look at all those names."
 
Pilgrim said:
I got to see the real deal for the first time last Sept.

All I can say is - stunning solemnity. It stuns you into another world when you look at those names. It's a shrine really.

As I started to walk by the very first section, the woman behind me said, "Oh my God, look at all those names."
Click to expand...

Even the traveling one, I saw the "genuine" traveling wall in Attleboro about 4 years ago, really hits you hard.

Of course I found 3 or 4 names of my former high school classmates on the wall. I'm sure that a number of my former college classmates are there as well, but since I have no idea what towns folks were from I have no way of checking their database to find them. I hung around with a lot of ROTC guys and most ended up in US Army Infantry (regardless of what they were promised when they signed up) in 'Nam shortly after graduation! :(
 
Have you folks seen this site? http://www.vietnamdogtags.com/

It's run by a woman who travelled to Vietnam and saw dog tags for sale... so she bought them in order to try and find the original owner or his family - and return them.

Lynne, MrsWW - please don't click on the "the story" link on the site without a box of tissues, OK? You'll need them. Hell, I needed them... and I never came closer to the Vietnam War than hearing my parents talking about the draft lottery for my older brother (his birthday was something like 200+ numbers down).

Ross
 
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