War Remembrance, Washington, D.C.

May 2009

Robert Frost suggested "Something there is that does not love a wall" (Mending Wall), but it's not me.  I have walked on the Great Wall of China (eventually I'll get to post this) and Hadrian's Wall (see existing post).  I have paused to read unknown names as strolling past the Vietnam War Memorial ("The Wall") in Washington, D.C., but I had never done so on Memorial Day weekend until my cousin came to town last year with the Rolling Thunder group (prior post).  It is as if, for a few hours each year, the silent names on the wall can suddenly spring to life and speak.

I am of the tumultuous generation of the Vietnam War.  I loved America and its founding ideals and wanted the world to be free from tyranny and the threat of Communist domination.  Yet, with others of my age, I questioned aspects of the war.  Still, I never joined the protests and did not approve of the disrespect shown to those who served.

It was a confused and divided time in our nation.  I was fortunate not to lose close friends or family in the war. There may well be someone I knew listed on the Wall, but I don't know who.  The pictures left at the Wall on Memorial weekend, by loved ones who keep their memories alive, looked like courageous classmates  I could well have known in my high school or college whose lives were suddenly redirected by the draft.  Some say that the Wall can be healing--to individuals, a generation, a nation--I would agree.  It was refreshing to see letters that children had written and to watch young families pay honor and learn about sacrifice and patriotism from a war they never knew.

I have always found the Korean War Memorial the most haunting, as I come upon soldiers moving cautiously through a field and see myself reflected on the wall with the faces of those who served in what has been called "The Forgotten War."

By contrast,  the recent World War II Memorial, is oval and open as if encompassing the entire world, which indeed the war did.  I carried the memory of my father, who served in post-war Italy;  my cousin Leigh shared that her father was asked to play Taps for the Marines who died at Iwo Jima.  He was in the army, but was asked to play for the Memorial Service, as there were no Marines available to play. I have been saddened in the past few years as so many of that "greatest generation" have passed away.

I would highly recommend a Memorial Day weekend visit to these monuments as one of the great American experiences.  It is more a moment to be felt than seen.

Click below for slideshow; then in black area above white writing
Memorial Day, Washington, DC
Music: Celine Dion, God Bless America, God Bless America: For the Benefit of the Twin Towers Fund