V I E T N A M   V E T E R A N S   M E M O R I A L

Washington D.C.

At the entrance I cross paths with this placard. It provides general information about the memorial.

Close to the Memorial Wall one can find a Directory of Names. If you wish to locate a specific name on the memorial, this book is your one stop reference guide. The directory is thick and the print is small. In and of itself, it is a testimony to the magnitude of lives lost in Vietnam. Each index entry contains the following information: Name, Rank, Service, Date of Birth, Date of Casualty, City, State, MIA Indicator, Panel Number, Line Number.

Here are a few examples:

Name

Rank

Service

Date of Birth

Date of Casualty

City

State

MIA

Panel No.

Line No.

CHARLES P DUESSENT

HM3

NA

27-AUG-48

12-FEB-70

ELMONTE

CA

14W

131

JAMES R DUFAULT

PFC

AR

20-SEP-45

22-JUN-66

BERWICK

ME

8E

74

PAUL DUFAULT

PFC

MC

23-APR-49

18-JUN-70

FALL RIVER

MA

9W

64

In the distance, I see the memorial and immediately I'm taken aback by its size. The memorial is almost 500 feet wide! I follow the pathway to the foot of where the left side of the monument begins.

John H. Anderson, Jr. is the first inscribed name I find on the memorial. John, from Wellsville, PA, had a ranking of Private First Class (PFC) and served in the Army. He died at the age of 20 on May, 25 1968 in the province of Thua Thien, South Vietnam.

• 9 personnel from Wellsville, PA died or are MIA as a result of the Vietnam War.
• 3,150 personnel from Pennsylvania died or are MIA as a result of the Vietnam War.
• 14,998 personnel having a ranking of PFC died or are MIA as a result of the Vietnam War.
• 38,225 personnel in the Army died or are MIA as a result of the Vietnam War.
• 89 personnel on May, 25 1968 died or are MIA as a result of the Vietnam War.
• 4,278 personnel died or are MIA in the province of Thua Thien as a result of the Vietnam War.
• 55,642 personnel died or are MIA in South Vietman as a result of the Vietnam War.

Lord, this is just horrible! Tears cloud my eyes and roll down my face as I investigate these grim facts and figures. The statistics, however, only scratch the surface of the horrific tragedies that took place so many years ago. The indescribable horrors of war. I was spared that experience, having been born too late in 1964. I may not have served in Vietnam, but, my heart goes out to all who had to fight the fight, and especially to those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for their country, regardless of the politics behind the war. Death is death and you cannot come back, no matter what the circumstances are that bring it about.