cincibuck
You kids stay off my lawn!
Just got back from DC and the 25th Anniversary of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, aka, The Wall. To all my fellow vets on the BP site, Welcome Home! and thank you for your service to our country.
The Wall is a special place anytime, but especially on Veterans Day. As usual the Commander-in-Chief was AWOL, just as his predecesor was. Just as well as we were treated by the presence of General Colin Powell. I got chills as he and his wife walked in, the crowd of veterans surging toward him and calling out "General!"
We were welcomed by Jan Scruggs, the man who had the vision that became The Wall. Then an itty bitty Army Nurse who needed a step box to reach the microphone wound up and wowed us with a spitfire speech in which she reminded us of how we were ignored upon our return and often used as the butt of jokes or the scapegoat for all the bad news of the 70s and 80s and how we collectively found our own pride, our own honor in our service and our determination that no subsequent group of warriors will come home to the kind of disrespect we received.
The General batted clean up, and tied things up nicely. It was great to be in the presence of a truely honorable man, especially when compared to the current line up of Republicans and Democrats.
It is a healing wall and from it has sprung the Korean War Memorial and the long over due World War II Memorial. If that is part of our legacy, then I'm a very happy vet.
Cincibuck
The Wall is a special place anytime, but especially on Veterans Day. As usual the Commander-in-Chief was AWOL, just as his predecesor was. Just as well as we were treated by the presence of General Colin Powell. I got chills as he and his wife walked in, the crowd of veterans surging toward him and calling out "General!"
We were welcomed by Jan Scruggs, the man who had the vision that became The Wall. Then an itty bitty Army Nurse who needed a step box to reach the microphone wound up and wowed us with a spitfire speech in which she reminded us of how we were ignored upon our return and often used as the butt of jokes or the scapegoat for all the bad news of the 70s and 80s and how we collectively found our own pride, our own honor in our service and our determination that no subsequent group of warriors will come home to the kind of disrespect we received.
The General batted clean up, and tied things up nicely. It was great to be in the presence of a truely honorable man, especially when compared to the current line up of Republicans and Democrats.
It is a healing wall and from it has sprung the Korean War Memorial and the long over due World War II Memorial. If that is part of our legacy, then I'm a very happy vet.
Cincibuck
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