Posted on 11/10/2007 5:04:56 PM PST by RDTF
Thousands of veterans from around the country participated in today's march to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Vietnam Memorial.
High school bands played patriotic songs as men and women, many wearing battle fatigues, jackets and pins representing their former units marched. Some walked with canes, others rolled in wheelchairs, some because of age, others due to old battle wounds.
The scene around the memorial, where everyone converged after the march along Constitution Avenue adjacent to the Mall, was festive and spiritual. A man with a grizzled mustache cried uncontrollably. Others hugged old friends as if at a family reunion.
The memorial was built with money raised by the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund and its founders, lead by Jan C. Scruggs, of Bowie, who came up with the idea.
Scruggs, himself a Vietnam veteran who had been wounded in battle, began with his team in 1979 and raised $8.4 million for the project in three years.
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A polished black granite chevron, the Wall is set into the earth at the west end of the Mall near the Lincoln Memorial. It was designed by architect Maya Lin and bears names of those killed or missing during the war.
There were 57,939 names inscribed on the memorial when it was dedicated in 1982. Since then, 317 names have been added for various reasons. The total now is 58,256, according to the memorial fund.
The dedication marked a time of healing, and a sense among Vietnam veterans that they were at last being thanked for their service. "It's corny and a cliche that there were no parades" when veterans returned from Vietnam, said historian and Vietnam veteran Marc Leepson. "But there were no parades."
-snip-
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
At today's parade in D.C., William Greene salutes during the National Anthem
Charlie Manis, who served in the Army, locates the name of a fellow veteran
The Montgomery County chapter of the Vietnam Veterans of America march in today's parade in D.C.
Now why is it one of the most visited memorials in DC? Because they did not get their due, and we want to give it to them. We want them to know we cared, but we were not vigilant. That mistake will not be made again. The American people have turned back every attempt to paint them as monsters, have gone out of their way to let them know that their service is the most honored gift they could give and it is appreciated for just that.
It is the other "never again."
NBC11 Travels To Vietnam Wall 25th Anniversary
http://www.nbc11.com/video/14556344/index.html
http://www.nbc11.com/newsarchive/14540593/detail.html
But NBC forgot the Nurses' statue.
Does anyone know if they were able to clean up the oily substance that some very sick person desecrated the memorial with?
Angels.
I don't know. But I know who might...
Thank you, love. That’s the prettiest cake ever.
I spent most of the day tied up in tearful knots over beautiful moments. I called my brother and played the Hymn and Happy Birthday over the phone. I didn’t want to be tied up alone ; )
He has always complained that I should have worked harder to make sure my last baby’s birthday was on the 10th. Now she is complaining that I didn’t work hard enough to insure her birthday was the 10th. He better count his blessings- he doesn’t realize there’d have been no living with me if that had happened, eh? LOL!
The “aging spots” are not seen any where else around the WALL.
At the Nurses’ Stature, there was nothing that jumped out.
So unless one was looking for where the vandalism occurred, it would not be noticed.
Kudos to whoever cleaned the WALL and Nurses’ Stature.
[Mr] T
A sincere Thank You from me and our family.
[Mr] T
No problem. I found my way to this thread from your Marine ping. Thanks and keep pinging.
[Mr] T
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