The Vietnam War Memorial

The Vietnam War Memorial. It is a wall, but it is also a monster that many avoid, and many are nervous to visit. In truth, all it is though is facts. It lists the names of all the soldiers that died in the conflict that was staged in a small country in Asia. All the names. There are so many names. Names that go on and on. There are over fifty-eight thousand of them, and every single one of them is a real person. A real man. A real woman. A real person. A real soldier. A real American. It was probably a man who considered whether or not to even serve his country. He probably left his crying mother behind, and when he arrived in the hell that would serve as his home for many miserable days, months, years. A hell that eventually would serve as his funeral home. Maybe he came back in plastic, or maybe he did not come home at all, as several thousand GI's turned into MIA's or POW's, which then changed into names on the wall. Those brave boys, not men, boys who gave their lives for a cause that they didn't understand were reduced from ambitious citizens in the greatest country in the world to names on a wall.

At the Smithsonian Museum of American History, there is an exhibit of items that were left at the wall by someone who loved one of those names. A few examples of these items, are numerous wedding rings, letters, foods, a royal flush of playing cards, pictures, a six pack of beer, a bottle of whiskey, thousands of flowers, many brass arm bands which were worn by soldiers, and medals of honor. All of these different entities have a different meaning, they all carry different emotions, attitudes, and expressions that only the soldier who is only represented by a name would understand.

The Vietnam War Memorial has reduced some of the toughest, proudest, and most disciplined in the world to tears. For when a veteran returns to the wall, he may recognize a few members of a platoon that he spent a few of his best years with, and what is left of that man? The other effect of the wall is that if a veteran recognizes a single name, that one name will carry a story, a legacy, and a history with him.