Vietnam Memorial ...

I always carry my little black book with me. It's a writer's thing. To take notes as ideas hit. This is what I wrote as I quietly sat alone in front of the Vietnam Memorial"

"I personally do not know anyone who died in Vietnam. Not that I know of, at least. But I sit here in front of this memorial and I see name after name -- I see kids names who were young and maybe in love, maybe in school with dreams. A new bike on an 8th birthday. A book they always wanted to read for their 12th Christmas. I see them getting an envelop from the government and being afraid, of saying good-bye to family and friends. Of going to boot camp where they were maybe thrown into a life they never planned or expected. I see them boarding a plane to go to a country that maybe, before, they had never heard of to do things and live things I cannot even imagine. And now I see their names carved into a wall -- letters carved to represent something they never saw coming. I see the names and though I never knew any of them, I feel the lives lost and the families left behind."

I think that is enough said.