"A nation reveals itself not only by the citizens it produces, but also by the citizens it honors & the citizens it remembers."

President John F. Kennedy

Long Overdue National Event to Honor Vietnam Veterans

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                We just secured our “173^rd” Classic ring and were Delighted at the workmanship and Beauty given to Our Choice. The Price is right for the Quality we were presented! 

My Brother “Won`t be getting” this one!

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When a Soldier Makes It Home  
{words and music by Arlo Guthrie}

Halfway around the world tonight
In a strange and foreign land,
A soldier packs his memories
As he leaves Afghanistan.
And back home they don't know too much,
There's just no way to tell,
I guess you had to be there
For to know that war was hell.

Chorus:
And there won't be any victory parades
For those that's coming back
They'll fly them in at midnight
And unload the body sacks
And the living will be walking down
A long and lonely road
Because nobody seems to care these days
When a soldier makes it home.

They'll say it wasn't easy
Just another job well done,
As the government in Kabul falls
To the sounds of rebel guns.
And the faces of the comrades
Being blown out of the sky,
Leaves you bitter with the feeling
That they didn't have to die.

Halfway around the world tonight
In a strange and foreign land
A soldier unpacks memories
That he saved from Vietnam.
Back home they didn't know too much
There was just no way to tell,
I guess you had to be there
For to know that war was hell.

And there wasn't any big parades
For those that made it back,
They flew them in at midnight
And unloaded all the sacks.
And the living were left walking down
A long and lonely road,
Because nobody seemed to care back then
When a soldier made it home.
The night is coming quickly
And the stars are on their way,
As I stare into the evening
Looking for the words to say.
That I saw the lonely soldier,
Just a boy that's far from home,
And I saw that I was just like him
While upon this earth I roam.

And there may not be any big parades
If I ever make it back.
As I come home under cover
Through a world that can't keep track
Of the heroes who have fallen,
Let alone the ones who won't,
Which is why nobody seems to care
When a soldier makes it home.

Halfway around the world tonight
In a strange and foreign land
A soldier unpacks memories
That he saved from Vietnam.
Back home they didn't know too much
There was just no way to tell,
I guess you had to be there
For to know that war was hell.

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about

things that matter."

              WARNING: Due to Presidential Executive Orders, and provisions passed by the Republican-controlled Congress, the National Security Agency may have read this email, my blog postings, and may listen to my private phone conversations without warrant, warning, or notice, and certainly without probable cause. They may do this without any judicial or legislative oversight. They may also arrest me without telling me of any charges against me, and hold me secretly and indefinitely in an undisclosed location without notifying my wife or relatives and without charges, and with no access to a lawyer. I/We have no recourse nor protection… save to call for the impeachment of the current President and voting to remove rubber-stamp Republicans from office.                           

Ricr0c ~   @ drgRAFIx`    2oo8.

Were it not for the BRAVE,

there would be NO "Land of the Free!"

Take off My Shield, Carry My Sword,

I won`t need them any more.

Find Me a sky, Give Me my Wings,

Frozen and Broken, but Free.

Tell them I`m Alright, I`m coming Home!

I am alone… The War is Over,

I`m coming Home!

Take off My Shame, Bury it low

I won`t fight here anymore.

Find Me the Sun, Give me it Whole,

Melt all the chains in My soul.

Tell them I`m Alright, I`m coming Home.

Take off My pain, Carry Me Slow;

We won`t Fight here anymore, but

Tell them We`re Alright, We`re coming home.

We are Alone and Our War is over…

We are Coming Home!

I Am the Flag of the Unites States of America

                                 My name is Old Glory.
                                 I fly atop the world's tallest buildings.
                                I stand watch in America's halls of justice.
                                 I fly majestically over institutions of
learning.
                                 I stand guard with power in the  world.
                                 Look up and see me.
                                
                                I stand for peace, honor, truth and  justice.
                                I stand for freedom.
                                I am confident.
                                I am arrogant.
                                I am    proud.
                                
                                When I am flown with my fellow banners,
                                My head is a little  higher,
                                My colors a little truer.
                                
                                I bow to no one!
                                I am recognized  all over the world.
                                I am worshipped - I am saluted.
                                I am loved - I am  revered.
                                I am respected - and I am feared.
                                
                                I have fought in every battle

                                of every war

                                for more then 200 years.


                                I was flown at Valley Forge, Gettysburg,
Shiloh anAppamatox.
                               I was there at San Juan Hill, the trenches of France,

                                in the Argonne Forest,

                                Anzio, Rome and the beaches of  Normandy.
                               Guam, Okinawa, Korea and
                               KheSan, Saigon, Vietnam know me.
                                I was  there.
                               
                                 I led my troops, I was dirty, battleworn and tired,

                                But my soldiers  cheered me and I was proud.
                                
                                I have been burned, torn and trampled on the
                               streets of countries I have helped set free.
                                It does not hurt for I am  invincible.
                               
                                I have been soiled upon, burned, torn and
                                trampled in the streets of my own country.
                                And when it's done by those
                                whom I've served in battle - it  hurts.
                               
                                 But I shall overcome - for I am strong.
                                
                               I have slipped the  bonds of Earth and
                              stood watch over the  uncharted frontiers of
space from my  vantage point on the moon.           
                               
                                 I have borne silent witness to all of America's finest hours.

                                But my finest hours are yet to come.
                                
                                When I am torn  into strips and used as bandages for my
           
                               wounded     comrades on the   battlefield,
                                When I am flown at half-mast to honor my soldier,

                                Or when I  lie in the trembling arms of a grieving parent

                               at the grave of their fallen son or daughter,
                                I am proud.

I Am the Flag of the Unites States Of America.

                        VICENZA, Italy

                                           - Jason Avery and 1,600 of his fellow soldiers received a Hero's Welcome on their return to their home base in Italy on Friday, a year after parachuting into northern Iraq   in the biggest U.S. airdrop since World War II.

                   Paratroopers from the 173rd Airborne Brigade passed before their commanders in review in Vicenza, northern Italy, where they are based. Some 2,000 teary-eyed family members watched and cheered at their passage.

"I'm just happy to be back, for what I do, for what I've done," said the 23-year old Avery, who's from New York. "I was so concerned, I was just trying to get back," said Avery,

His wife Christina and three kids in tow, hamburgers in one of hand, hot dogs in another, trying to secure a seat at a dinner party at the base. Around him, music was playing loud, balloons were flying in the room and banners all over the walls.

Avery came back earlier this month. Being away meant he missed the birth of his third child, Cheyenne, now 6 months old. "Now, I'm just trying to make the best of every moment," he said.

           Some 1,000 paratroopers went in northern Iraq on March 26, 2003, and grabbed an airfield in the area. Another 500 roughly followed over the next days. The airdrop, which took place from a nearby base in Italy, Aviano, was the first large deployment of American ground troops in the region. It opened a northern front as U.S.-led forces advanced on Baghdad from the south.

Over the past year, the 173rd's job was to control Kirkuk, an oil-rich city 180 miles north of Baghdad where Kurds, Arabs and other ethnic groups have been competing for domination.

The tensions have repeatedly resulted in violence.

       "The ethnic tension was always there, but we left behind a lot of things that are promising," Col. William C. Mayville Jr., the Brigade commander of the 173rd told reporters after the ceremony.

    VICENZA, Italy — It could be easy to get the impression that members of

the 173rd Airborne Brigade aren’t fond of their home base.

After all, they always seem to be on the go.

“There are guys here who will have a three-year tour with the 173rd and have two years in combat,” Col. Kevin Owens, the brigade’s new commander, said Monday, referring to the unit’s upcoming deployment to Afghanistan.

After returning from almost a year in Iraq, Owens said, soldiers will have a year back on Caserma Ederle before heading off again to southwest Asia.

But it’ll be close.

Current plans call for the brigade to start deploying in late February or early March. Many of them returned from Iraq during the same time frame this year.

“I had an idea we would be going back,” said Spc. Tim Rogers of Battery D, 319th Airborne Field Artillery Regiment. “But I didn’t think it was going to be this quick.”

Not that Rogers, or four other soldiers interviewed Monday, are complaining.

“It really doesn’t bother me,” he said.

Pfc. Anthony Orr certainly wouldn’t mind more time with his wife, Bridget, or his infant daughter, Halee. She was born just a few months before he deployed to Iraq. The couple had been married only a short time before the deployment.

“It was hard starting off with a new family, not being with them at all,” he said. “I’m hoping that this time, it’ll be easier.”

Don’t count on it, Kathy Wooten says.

“It’s just getting harder,” Wooten says of the fifth time her husband will be deployed during their seven-year marriage.

Asked earlier how many years they’ve been married, she says: “as long as he’s been deployed.”

For his part, Charles Wooten, a staff sergeant with the 501st Forward Support Company, looks on the upcoming deployment as a test of his leadership. He said his unit has a lot of new soldiers who joined the brigade after the Iraq deployment. Wooten sums up the Iraq deployment as “challenging. I learned a lot from Iraq.”

Owens said the brigade will be counting on such experience.

“It’s going to be a squad leadership, platoon leadership fight,” he said.

“It is a decentralized fight.”

Owens knows a bit about Afghanistan. He served on the Southern European Task Force (Airborne) command staff while the brigade was in Iraq. But before going to Italy, he spent four months in 2002 leading the 2nd Ranger Battalion in Afghanistan.

He said although the brigade hasn’t been to Afghanistan, “there are a lot of leaders in the brigade that have experience in Afghanistan as well.”

That includes the commanders of the brigade’s two infantry battalions: Lt. Col. Timothy McGuire, of the 1st Battalion, 508th Infantry Regiment, and Lt. Col. Mark Stammer, of the 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment.

The new members of each battalion — estimated at one-third of the entire force during Owens’ assumption of command June 25 — will have a chance to integrate with the old guard very soon.

Owens said each battalion would spend a little more than two weeks training in Hohenfels, Germany, starting at the end of the month. The entire brigade will then travel north and train for about six weeks beginning in late September.

He said soldiers would see similarities between their tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. But they’ll see a lot of differences, as well. Iraqis are among the most educated people in the region and — despite massive problems with infrastructure — live in a country that’s decades or centuries ahead of their Afghani counterparts in many respects.

“It’s a desolate place,” Owens said of Afghanistan. “I don’t think that place has really changed for centuries.”

He said Afghanistan might be relatively safer these days for U.S. soldiers, but it’s not exactly a vacation spot.

Still, Wooten says with a smile: “If I had a pick, I’d prefer Afghanistan.”

Spc. Charles DeWitt from the 2-503rd smiles when asked about the possibility of hunting for Osama bid Laden. He recalls a lot of similar missions in Iraq looking for high-profile targets, many of which didn’t turn up anything.

“I didn’t enjoy standing around in blazing sun with 120 pounds of gear for five hours,” he says. “But would I do it again? Without question.”

Sgt. 1st Class James Litchford, with the 1-508th, said he decided to stay longer with the 173rd, knowing that it would likely be deploying again soon.

“I like the unit,” he said. “It’s got good leadership and a proud history.”

 A history that will soon include another long deployment  far from home.

  1.5 million Americans have served in Iraq and Afghanistan

                   In combat and at home, they've faced serious problems - from serious shortages of equipment to long waits for counseling. Click on our links to learn more on the following topics:

Mental Health Problems among Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans

Veterans Waiting for Care and Benefits

Traumatic Brain Injury

A New GI Bill:

Rebuilding Troop Strength By Providing an Affordable Education for Veterans

Honoring the Fallen

A Broken Military: Iraq War Threatens Readiness

Better Health Care for National Guardsmen and Reservists

Coming Home: Education, Employment and Homeless among

New Veterans.

    On each page, you'll find a quick, easy-to-read summary of the issue, plus links to download our more comprehensive report on each issue. These IAVA reports are fully sourced and regularly updated.

Mental Health Problems Among Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans

Veterans Waiting for Care and Benefits

Traumatic Brain Injury

             Traumatic Brain Injury, or TBI, is the signature wound of the Iraq War.  For troops near a grenade attack or roadside bomb, the blast can cause the brain to hit the inside of the skull - leading to vision problems, hearing or speech problems, dizziness and memory loss.

A New GI Bill: Rebuilding Troop Strength By Providing an Affordable Education for Veterans

Honoring the Fallen

A Broken Military: Iraq War Threatens Readiness

Better Health Care Coverage for National Guardsmen and Reservists

                   Wounded veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan are waiting months for medical appointments and disability claims processing.  In some cases, the waits have stretched into years.    Veterans with serious mental health problems have committed suicide waiting for emergency counseling, and injured veterans unable to work have fallen into debt awaiting government compensation for their injuries.

     Since 2001, 1.5 million American service members have served in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.   As of June 2007, about 26,000 troops were serving in Afghanistan and 154,000 troops were serving in Iraq. The forces currently in Iraq or deploying in the next few months represent half of the Army's combat brigades.

             According to military experts from General Colin Powell to former Defense Secretary Lawrence Korb, years of war and the current "surge" in Iraq have pushed our military to the breaking point.     Retired Major General Robert Scales has said simply, "We're running out of soldiers faster than we're running out of warfighting missions." And General Peter Schoomaker, the Chief of Staff of the United States Army, warns:

               While our Soldiers are responding with extraordinary commitment, particularly in the face of adversity and personal hardships, we cannot allow this condition to persist.

    In recent weeks the shortfalls have become apparent even within Iraq.  Gen. Benjamin R. Mixon, who commands US troops in northern Iraq, has admitted he does not have enough troops to complete missions in Diyala.

    Facing serious problems with recruitment, the military has been forced to lower age, education, and aptitude standards for new recruits, as well as increase enlistment bonuses.  The costs of retention have sky-rocketed.  The military has also held 70,000 troops on active duty beyond their expected contract end-dates and has called up more than 10,000 veterans who have not put on a uniform in years. 

    The military now regularly requires troops to serve multiple, extended combat tours. Over 449,000 troops have served more than one combat tour, and many have returned to war with only a few months rest. Active-duty Army combat tours are now 15 months long, with only half the recommended "dwell time" at home between tours.     According to an Army survey, "soldiers are 50 percent more likely" to suffer from a mental health problem if they serve multiple tours.  For more information about the mental health effects of war, see the IAVA report: "Mental Health Problems among Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans."

              Equipment shortages are also a serious issue, contributing to the plummeting readiness ratings of Army and Marine units.  As of September 2006, "Roughly one-half of all Army units (deployed and non-deployed, active and reserves) receive the lowest readiness rating any fully formed unit can receive."

        The overuse of the Guard and Reserve are threatening our ability to cope with domestic emergencies.    About four-fifths of Army Guard and Reserve units not mobilized received the lowest possible readiness rating.  State officials have expressed grave concerns about the damage done to our national security.  As Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius said after her state was devastated by tornados:

        Fifty percent of our trucks are gone.  Our front loaders are gone.  We are missing Humvees that move people.  We can't borrow them from other states because their equipment is gone.  

        It's a huge issue for states across the country.

There have been 0ver 4102 of 0ur American Soldiers

 Expended in  ~  Iraq

      Members of The US 173rd Airborne Brigade attend a welcome ceremony at the sport grounds of the Ederle barracks in Vicenza, northern Italy, Friday, March 12, 2004. The 173rd Brigade's soldiers are back from their deployment to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

 Members of The US 173rd Airborne Brigade are welcomed by their families and friends upon their arrival to the Ederle barracks in Vicenza, northern Italy, Friday, March 12, 2004. The 173rd Brigade's soldiers are back from their deployment to Iraq  in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

    A young girl smiles as she attends a military parade welcoming back the 173rd Airborne Brigade at Ederle U.S. base in Vicenza, northern Italy March 12, 2004. Just less than one year ago, a 1,000 Vicenza paratroopers jumped into Bashir Airfield, Iraq on the night of March 26, 2003, in a critical mission called Operation Northern Delay. The operation was one of the largest airborne assaults since World War II.

        U.S. Army Sergeants Emile Gomez (L) and Rudy Welch (R) of The 173rd Airborne Brigade walk with their families after a ceremony marking their return from Iraq, at Ederle U.S. base in Vicenza, northern Italy, March 12, 2004.

  U.S. Army Specialist Laura Landa of 173rd Airborne Brigade greets her daughter Samantha after a ceremony to welcome home U.S. soldiers from Iraq, at Ederle U.S. base in Vicenza, northern Italy March 12, 2004.

FORT BRAGG, N.C. -- As many as 5,000 paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division will be sent to Afghanistan - many for a second tour - as part of the Army's rotation of troops, commanders said Monday.

Soldiers are expected to start leaving their North Carolina post in the spring and will be gone about a year. The paratroopers will be assigned with troops from the Italy-based 173rd Airborne Brigade and replace soldiers from the Hawaii-based 25th Infantry Division.

The deployment will begin with about 3,000 soldiers and could total about 5,000 once all the needs are known and more orders are issued, Army officials said.

Some 65 percent of the soldiers have been previously deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan and will bring valuable experience to this mission, said Col. Patrick Donahue, who will command the Fort Bragg soldiers.

The core of Donahue's unit comes from two battalions of the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment that will deploy as the 1st Brigade Combat Team after artillery and support units are added.

"Our paratroopers and our families know firsthand that we are a nation at war," Donahue said at a news conference Monday to announce the deployment.

Donahue said his soldiers are training for conditions they will encounter in Afghanistan, but do not plan to be overly reliant on lessons learned in previous deployments.

"We can't be blinded by our experience," he said. "We know the enemy adapts to our tactics."

Also Monday, Camp Lejeune announced that more than 2,200 Marines and sailors stationed in Afghanistan will return home Wednesday.

The 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit, which deployed in mid-February, killed more than 100 Taliban and guerrilla fighters, Camp Lejeune said.

The MEU also provided security to U.N. voter registration sites and started more than 80 civil-military projects, including digging wells in drought-ravaged communities.

Soldiers from the 82nd who spent previous deployments in Iraq will find Afghanistan a very different mission, Donahue said. In Baghdad, soldiers had to patrol a sector that included 400,000 residents and little local police presence. In Afghanistan, the towns and cities are smaller and the local security forces are effective, but the terrain and weather are rougher, he said.

In addition to the 2nd and 3rd Battalions of the 504th, other units deploying to Afghanistan include the 3rd Battalion of the 319th Field Artillery Regiment, the 307th Forward Support Battalion, airborne engineers, military intelligence and headquarters troops, said Col. Michael Ferriter, assistant 82nd commander for operations.

The Army has said previously it plans to add 5,300 personnel in a new 82nd Airborne brigade next year, with the troops coming from a temporary increase in the size of the Army. Ferriter said the deployment announced Monday will mean at least a seven-month delay in that expansion.

Nearly every unit of the 82nd has been deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan at least once since Sept. 11, 2001, Ferriter said. The 504th is the least-deployed regimental-sized unit, putting it at the head of the line for deployment.

Soldiers from the units that received deployment notices Monday said they looked forward to going to Afghanistan - even Spc. George Perez, 21, who lost the lower part of his left leg to a roadside bomb in Iraq and now walks with a prosthesis.

"I'm just happy I'm going," said Perez, who re-enlisted for an additional six years in the military even after losing his leg.

Perez, who has a new "Airborne" tattoo on his right forearm, said his wife of two months understands his love for the military. Though he can no longer patrol as an infantry soldier, he said he plans to jump with his unit before deploying and work repairing weapons in Afghanistan.

Pfc. Chris Koehn, 22, of Livingston, Mont., is a cook in the 82nd and said 40 days he spent in Iraq helped prepare him for a year in Afghanistan, where he will rise around 4 a.m. to prepare a 6 a.m. breakfast for 500 soldiers. During the day, he and another cook will hand out Meals Ready to Eat for lunch and prepare hot suppers.

Married about 18 months, Koehn said he comes from a military family that expects deployments and feels it is his duty "to stand up for my wife and your family."

Pfc. Leticia Otiz, 19, of San Bruno, Calif., a personnel clerk, and Spc. Matthew Haynes, 21, of Knoxville, Tenn., a vehicle mechanic, expressed similar sentiments.

Ortiz said it will be her first deployment but she is excited and confident that other soldiers will help her stay safe.

Haynes spent 8 1/2 months in Afghanistan in 2003, mostly recovering broken Humvees and repairing them.

"The environment is pretty rough on the vehicles ... the sand and the heat," Haynes said.

The Healing Aspects of Helping 

by Bridget C. Cantrell, Ph.D.
 

     Over the course of a year my relationship with The 173rd Airborne Brigade was formed through an ongoing e-mail exchange with the chaplains on the ground in Iraq. These paratroopers of the 173rd made the night combat jump in early 2003 to open up and secure the northern front in Iraq.

     In mid 2003, we began communicating with key people of the 173rd Airborne, and soon thereafter I contacted Chuck Dean and collaborated with him on writing and designing a new course workbook. The focus of this book, (“Turning Your Heart Toward Home”), is to help those returning from the war reintegrate and rebuild relationships with loved ones at home. As a result of working together on this project an invitation was extended to us to provide information about the ramifications of the impact of war on the returning combat troops from Iraq. My years of experience in counseling and working with veterans and families through the Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs PTSD Program was invaluable in bringing simple understanding about combat stress to these troops who had just returned from combat in northern Iraq.

    We arrived in Vicenza, Italy on May 24, 2004 and were escorted to Camp Ederle, the home of the 173rd Airborne Brigade, by Army chaplains Major Tom Wheatley and Captain Steve Cantrell (no relation to me). These wonderful men did an excellent job in arranging all our meetings and services. As well as our logistical needs, they helped setup battalion-sized meetings plus individual and small group counseling sessions with the troops.

    On the 25th of May, 2004 we had the opportunity to address the issues of Post- Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) with over 2500 men and women from three battalions and one artillery battery of paratroopers. When the program was then turned over to me I presented a power point introduction to describe the basic aspects of PTSD and readjustment issues. The presentation was given in a way to offer psychological tools to enhance coping skills and illuminate some of the challenges they may encounter along the way.

     To help these soldiers gain an understanding of what to expect from witnessing, and participating in combat, it was critical to “normalize” their symptoms and reactions. This was accomplished by stressing the idea that what they are feeling, and perhaps acting out, is not out of the ordinary. However, I explained, that this is common in those who experience such stressful and traumatic events as found in combat. Our purpose on this mission was NOT to alarm the troops, who were so fresh out of combat, but to help them understand some of the reactions to stress and the “signs along the trail” that they may be experiencing (and many were). It was important to give them a simple understanding of PTSD and to “normalize” their responses to life after war. If done properly there is a greater possibility that they may be able to recognize and avoid some future problems that could otherwise cause prolonged, unpredictable and adverse effects.

    Our days were spent by presenting information to large groups, small focus groups and individuals. We believe that many of these troops came away with more effective tools to help them with present and future readjustment issues. As time goes by we currently continue to pray for and communicate (via e-mail and USPS mail) with some of the troops whom we were so privileged to meet while there. It is our hope that this is just the first of many open doors for us to continue to work in unison with the U.S. military in caring for the troops and their families.

                     We look forward to presenting our workbook course “Turning Your Heart Toward Home” in many local areas. For information on seminars and group material please feel free to contact my office in the Fairhaven District of Bellingham.

Sincerely,

Hearts Toward Home International
1050 Larrabee Avenue
Suite 104,  PMB 714
Bellingham, Washington 98225-7367

(360) 714-1525

Ammunitional Mutation`s

           At first there was no place for us to go, until someone put up that "Black Granite Wall." Now, every day and night, my Brothers and my Sisters wait to see the many people from places afar file in front of this "Wall." Many stopping briefly and many for hours, and some that come on a regular basis. 

    It was hard at first. Not that it's gotten any easier, but it seems that many of the attitudes towards that Vietnam War we were involved in have changed. I can only pray that the one's on the other side have learned something, and more "Walls" as this one, needn't be built. 

    Several members of my unit, and many that I did not recognize, have called me to The Wall by touching my name engraved upon it. The tears aren't necessary, but are hard even for me to hold back. 

    Don't feel guilty for not being with me, my Brothers. 
This was my destiny as it is yours, to be on that side of the Wall. Touch The Wall, my Brothers, So that we can share in the memories that we had. I have learned to put the bad memories aside and remember only the pleasant times that we had together. 

\Tell our other Brothers out there to come and visit us, Not to say: "Goodbye", But to say: "Hello", 

    And be together again,even for a short time, and to ease that pain of loss that we all still share. 

    Today, an irresistible and loving call summons me to The Wall. As I approach, I can see an elderly lady. And as I get closer, I recognize her, It's Momma! 
As much as I have looked forward to this day, I have also dreaded it, because I didn't know what reaction I would have. 

    Next to her, I suddenly see my wife, and immediately think how hard it must have been for her to come to this place. And my mind floods with the pleasant memories of thirty years past. There's a young man in a military uniform standing with his arm around her, My God! He has to be my son! 

    Look at him trying to be the man without a tear in his eye. I yearn to tell him how proud I am, seeing him standing tall, straight and proud in his uniform. Momma comes closer and touches The Wall. And I feel the soft and gentle touch I had not felt in so many years. Dad has crossed to this side of The Wall, and through our touch, I try to convey to her that Dad is doing fine, and is no longer suffering or feeling pain. 

    I see my wife's courage building, as she sees Momma touch The Wall. And she approaches and lays her hand on my waiting hand. All the emotions, feelings and memories of three decades past flash between our touch and I tell her that. “It's alright . . . Carry on with your life. . .And don't worry about me.” I can see as I look into her eyes that she hears, and a big burden has been lifted from her, on wings of understanding. 

    I watch as they lay flowers and other memories of my past. My lucky charm that was taken from me and sent to her by my CO, a tattered and worn teddy bear that I can barely remember having as I grew up and several medals that I had earned and were presented to my wife. 
One is the Combat Infantry Badge that I am very proud of, and I notice that my son is also wearing this medal. 
I had earned mine in the jungles of Vietnam, and he had probably earned his in the deserts of Iraq. 

    I can tell that they are preparing to leave, and I try to take a mental picture of them together, because I don't know when I will see them again. I wouldn't blame them if they were not to return, and can only thank them that I was not forgotten. My wife and Momma near The Wall for one final touch, and so many years of indecision fear and sorrow are let go. As they turn to leave, I feel my tears that had not flowed for so many years, form as if dew drops on the other side of The Wall. 

    They slowly move away with only a glance over their shoulders. My son suddenly stops and slowly returns. He stands straight and proud in front of me, and snaps a salute! Something draws him near The Wall, and he puts his hand upon etched stone and touches my tears that had formed dew drops On the face of The Wall. And I can tell that he senses my presence, and the pride and love I have for him. He falls to his knees and the tears flow from his eyes, and I try my best to reassure him that it's allright, and the tears do not make him less of a man. 

    As he moves back wiping the tears from his eyes, He silently mouths: 
                 "God Bless you, Dad . . . ." 

God Bless, YOU, Son . . .
    We WILL meet someday, but in the meanwhile, go on your way. There is no hurry. . .There is no hurry at all. 

    As I see them walk off in the distance, I yell out to THEM and EVERYONE there today, As loud as I can. . . 

    THANKS FOR REMEMBERING!

RichardTheadore Geer, RA 11803260,Specialist: AirBorne RanGer Infantry MOS 11B1P.

Travel`in       Through    Our Bunker`s

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