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.

The memorial covers the time period from 1959 to 1975. Believe it or not, there is order to the seemingly chaotic listing of names. Names are listed by the order in which the service personnel died or when they were declared missing in action. The names run from the center of the memorial, starting at the top of the right arm, under the date of 1959.

The names are listed in order along the right arm, left to right, line by line, top to bottom, panel to decreasing panel. At the end of the right arm, the listing jumps to the opposite side of the memorial, to the tip of the left arm, then move back in the other direction towards the memorial's center. At the center of the memorial on the bottom of the left arm's panel you'll find the date of 1975, next to which is inscribed the last name.

When the memorial was erected, the unfortunate honor of being the first person killed in action was given to Dale R. Buis, a Major (MAJ) in the Army from Pender, NE who, at the age of 37, died on July 8, 1959 in Quang Tri, South Korea. Additional names have been added to the memorial since its dedication, and the first death was determined to date back to 1956. That name had to be located a ways down on the right arm of the memorial.

The last person killed in Vietnam was Richard Vandegeer, a 2nd Lieutenant in the Air Force from Columbus, OH who, at the age of 26, was declared missing in action on May 15, 1975 in Cambodia. Since the dedication of the memorial in 1982, the remains of Richard's and many others were gathered from a helicopter crash sight and brought back to the States. In 1995, through advances in forensics, the government was able to identify Richard's remains. He was finally laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery on October 27, 2000.

I notice this soldier at the Wall, I think he may be in the Army? He takes his time to look at the inscriptions, for he is a member of a very large family, and it is his brothers (and sisters - 8 women are listed on the Wall) who's names have gained his undivided attention.

I slowly walk along the Wall and capture name upon name upon name. The sea of names is seemingly endless. If a name is prefixed with a diamond, that means the person was killed. If a name is prefixed with a plus, that means they are missing in action. Sadly, more than 1,000 service personnel are unaccounted for.