My Tribute to Vietnam

I can still remember that cold rainy day when I landed at San Francisco International Airport, tired from the very long flight from Subic Bay, Phillippines - as I made my way through the terminal - I heard the voices...."child killer" "war monger" - I WAS in America, I thought to myself...what had I done to deserve this ?? I had served my country in trying times, and yet I was being heckled in the terminal, for being in uniform. I looked in disbelief, that these young Americans, who dispised the fact that I had just returned from Vietnam, after a very trying 237 straight days in the bush, had no support for our troops who were dying in a far away country.

Those trying days are gone, we now hold our heads high. We served in very trying time for this country, and never waivered in our beliefs that we were serving OUR country, in support of another. We now have had our recognition, and our parades show this Nations support for those of us who served, but it was too many years in the waiting, and we suffered so much because this great country of ours, did not pay us the due we deserved, until many, many years later.

The "Wall" on the Mall in Washington, DC, bears the names of over 58,000 of those who did not return to their homes and lodges, and it is for those, that I put up this memorial, as well as those of us who survived this bitterly fought war. Please, take the time, to visit the link to the Wall.....The Vietnam Veterans Memorial, see the comments of those before you. You will shed years, as we all have, when you take this emotional trip to the Wall.

ALL GAVE SOME - SOME GAVE ALL

Please follow the following links as they will take you places you may need to see. Some are heartfelt, some are historical, and all are worth the trip.

Images of the Wall

The following poem was written by a dear friend of mine, and I thank her profoundly for sending this to me

DO YOU WONDER?

Do you stand like me back from the Wall For the Nam Vets in DC? And watch the raw emotions Of the veterans you see?

Do you cringe with pain as I do Feeling empathy for them And all the while still holding back What we too feel within?

Do you wonder at the way the tears Come rushing like a flood To the eyes of aging soldiers Now remembering the blood

Of buddies lost while over there And wounded ones sent home --A place no longer home to them They were each in hell alone

And do you wonder why it took So long for them to come To be here with their fallen kin Where they could come undone?

Why is their grief so raw and strong So many years gone by? I think it is because of how They've kept it all inside

How many years were they denied The healing they must need Their memories of pain and loss Lay dormant like a seed

A nation wished to know them not Respect was seldom shown And they were robbed, our valiant ones Of the feelings that they owned

Until at last when now they meet They're brothers, sisters all They grace us with their pain and tears Here at the soldiers' Wall

They touch the names of those they've missed Their agonies emerge And they hold on to each other While strong emotions surge

They need each other -- we need them! And all of us need Grace To bear the grief so long delayed To offer our embrace

They are our brothers too, I see And sisters, we have shunned They served with valor in the war But here they were outgunned

So if you wonder why they weep Those warriors who've hung on Remember theirs is pent up grief They've held it in too long

So now let's show them that we care As now they come to weep The tears that will bring healing And let's all their vigils keep

And nevermore leave them alone But rather hold them tight Within our arms, as in our hearts At last let's treat them right

Vicki Spencer Tulsa, Oklahoma May 2000 Memorial Day For the veterans

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Accept it - for you & for them... It is all that they want of you. It is all they want for you....