Please help me pay tribute to my Vietnam Vet friend (Vanity)

[LisaMalia]

Please help me meet my goal of 100 tributes for my friend.

[LisaMalia]

I am so frustrated that a man who has so disrespected our Vietnam Veterans, many who gave their lives for are country, is actually a presidential candidate.

I would like to feel like I can make a difference, in some small way.

Please go to this website: www.thewall-usa.com and post a thank you in memory of my dear friend. Search for James William Lunsford, Chillicothe, Ohio.

Then go to "personal comments" and post your thoughts, or just a thank you.

My goal is to have 100 tributes to him.

Kerry spat on the memory of Billy, and so many other brave young men like him who gave their lives in service to our country.

If I hit my goal of 100 tributes, I will email them to every major media outlet. It may get ignored, but at least I will know I did my part in getting the message out that some of us still care about upholding the integrity and honor of our Vietnam Veterans.

Thanks FReepers.

"Freedom has a flavor that the protected will never know"

[LisaMalia]

bump

[LisaMalia]

bump for Billy.

[kellynla]

Top of the morning! As a Marine Corps combat veteran of Viet Nam I thought I might let you know that you have made a difference and a very large difference both for your friend's memory and for the memory of all Viet Nam veterans.

Every day that you remember and honor your friend and the memory of all veterans you have given credence to the fact that the Viet Nam veterans' sacrifices and the sacrifices of all veterans was not in vain. That those veterans fought and died for freedom. And as well know freedom is not free.

And you can continue to honor your friend and all veterans through your prayers and rememberances for the rest of your life. They fought and many died so that Americans could be free. And if you only remember one thing that I have said please remember that your friend is in Heaven today looking down on you and smiling on you with his love and affection for what you have done and will do for him. God bless you, your friend and all the veterans who paid the ultimate price for freedom.
Never Forget!

As you requested I will post a personal note on the Wall for your friend.

Semper Fidelis,
A Marine
"C" Company, First Battalion, Fifth Marine Regiment, First Marine Division Viet Nam 1969 & 1970

[kellynla]

rememberances=remembrances

[Mikey]

The following was taken from; The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall Page

"If you are able, save for them a place inside of you and save one backward glance when you are leaving for the places they can no longer go. Be not ashamed to say you loved them, though you may or may not have always. Take what they have taught you with their dying and keep it with your own. And in that time when men decide and feel safe to call the war insane, take one moment to embrace those gentle heroes you left behind."

Major Michael Davis O'Donnell
1 January 1970
Dak To, Vietnam
Listed as KIA February 7, 1978

[LisaMalia]

Thank you so much! And thanks for your service to our great country.

[LisaMalia]

Bump for Billy

[kellynla]

You are quite welcome. I was proud to serve with some of the finest Marines the Corps has ever produced. And thank you again for remembering your friend. Do not think for a moment that he and many others do not appreciate what you have done and will continue to do for them. Never Forget! Semper Fi, Kelly

[ThinkingMan]

Thank you for your service- I am grateful to all who have served.

My father was a marine in Vietnam, and is the finest man I know. My Grandfather was in the Battle of the Bulge in WWII, and I served in the Navy during Desert Storm. Despite our inter-service rivalries, I have always been proud of the heritage of service and defense of this wonderful country handed down to me.

[LisaMalia]

You have helped me keep this thread going, and I won't ever forget it. And thank you for your tribute to Billy. I am very determined to meet my goal of 100 tributes to him. I've checked out the Wall website many times, and keep hoping to see more.

I remember hearing about his death, and what caused it, and how it devastated me at the time.

He was not killed by a gunshot wound by the enemy. He was killed because he had the heart to answer the call of a child who said she was hungry and begged for food from him. When he approached her to give her a piece of candy he had, he stepped on a strategically placed land mine. The bottom part of his body was blown off. When his remains were brought back home, his family was able to have an open casket, the top part of his body was still intact.

So, when I think of Kerry and his disrespectful words and condemnation toward his "fellow" Vietnam Veterans, I get mad. Very mad.

Every move Kerry has made since he was born with the proverbial silver spoon in his mouth has been well planned and orchestrated. From his friendship with the Kennedy's, to his bogus medals, to his marriages for money, to his relationship with the mainstream media, and ultimately his run for the presidency.

It may not be much, but I will do everything in my power to make sure he is exposed for the liar, cheat, coward and traitor to our country that he is.

This one's for you, Billy.

[LisaMalia]

bump

[kellynla]

"I get mad. Very mad."

Don't get mad, continue the good fight and realize that you have numerous friends and family members who are not aware of the sacrifices that were made by veterans and their families not only during Viet Nam but every war.

You have and can continue to make a very big difference by educating your friends, family members and even people you meet. You would not believe the many people who are ignorant of the history of the Viet Nam war and those who served, those who didn't and the lies that have been propagated about the war through the media.

Never Forget!
Semper Fi, Kelly

[proud American in Canada]

bttt

[proud American in Canada]

I just added a note. What a great site, btw, though if I were to spend more than 30 seconds reading it, I'd turn into a blubbering idiot.

19 years old... :(

I hope you get your 100 tributes.

[LisaMalia]

Thank you! I wish more 19 year olds were as mature in their beliefs as you are.

[tet68]

Done.
God bless you for your loving friendship.
T.

[kellynla]

And thank you for your service, Sailor! We Marine Corps grunts have always had a special place in our hearts for the Navy. For if not for a Navy Corpsman I would not be here today. Semper Fi, Kelly

[LisaMalia]

Thanks! I don't have a veterans ping list, but it would mean alot to me if you could pass this on to them. Just reading the tributes to Billy in the last hour has meant so much to me.
And a big thank you to you for your service to our country.

[Seniram US]

For Billy and another Billy, a cousin of mine, who also gave the ultimate sacrifice as part of the 58,000 noble American heroeswho died there.

Fifty-Eight Thousand, Americans All, Noble and Tall

The sound of the bugle, the flap of the flags, waving in the breeze,
Fifty-eight thousand, bravest of the brave, sacrificed across the seas.
Their cause, so noble, an enclave of freedom in distant South Vietnam
Their countrymen foundered, and brought shame and disdain

Their burden was heavy, the jungles were deep, but they knew no retreat
The goal was freedom and the Communists’ obstacles were very steep
And the battles were fought in the valleys and highlands often without sleep
Their heads remained high, and many died, while the flag burned in U.S. streets

They were the Presidents’ men, Ike, JFK, Johnson and Nixon until the end
And the plan was to duplicate Korea by halting Communism once again
Those gallant troops fought night and day, in hopes that tyranny would end
The colors waved, the choppers braved, the pilots saved, the Navy paved

The Stars and Stripes cleared the way, and freedom’s path got closer each day
The enemy when in the way, were punished severely until D.C. got in the way
No major defeats on the field occurred, but still, freedom in Nam was lost
Communists smiled, some politicians relieved, Liberty for Nam too high a cost

That fateful day in Saigon, when all watched the last copter from the Embassy depart
Unaware that our combat troops were removed about two years prior to the chopper’s start
For the political decision had been made, our troops had died in vain, for freedom, no gain
The coffins came home, those brave men draped in honor and spiritual fame without stain

Fifty-eight thousand, Americans all, a high price to pay, when you let freedom take a fall
They had no parades, but didn’t complain, they sacrificed all, for their name on a black wall
Now their memories are marked often by simple white crosses that stand noble, as I saw
In the eternal echo of that bugler who played Taps to let God know one more hero stood tall.

Fifty-eight thousand, through shot and shell, they fought for their country extremely well
The Marines, the Navy, the Air Force, the Army, and the Coast Guard, did the world tell
That the Stars and Stripes never was felled, and all Yanks who follow continue to swell
While they remember their lost brothers, they maintain Freedom’s light and will yell

God Bless The United States of America And The Souls of Her Faithful Departed.



Seniram Publishing, Glenside, Pennsylvania Copyright © 2003 A.D. http:usmilitaryhistory.com