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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"

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

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

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