Vietnam Veterans Memorial

Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Welcome Home, Brothers and Sisters. , "The country that sent us off to war was not there to welcome us home," stated by H. Moore and J. Galloway and sums up what occurred to many Vietnam Veterans., In 2008 Congress passed Public Law 110-181§589 authorizing the Secretary of Defense to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War and establishing the United States of America Vietnam War Commemoration. On Memorial Day 2012, a poignant ceremony was held to symbolize the beginning of a Congressionally authorized national commemoration; its primary focus to thank and honor all Vietnam Veterans and their families for their service, valor, and sacrifice fifty years later on behalf of a previously ungrateful nation. To commemorate this time in history, Vietnam Veterans of America, Chapter TX 1000, coordinated the design and installation of this memorial and placed it in the Central Texas State Veterans Cemetery., Since "The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall," in Washington D.C. has become the iconic symbol of the Vietnam War, it is appropriate to create a smaller version here configured to resemble, "The Wall," with several individualized changes., The inscriptions engraved on the panels are "WELCOME HOME," which has become a greeting of Vietnam Veterans to fellow Vietnam Vets. Below the seals are personal expressions of Vietnam Veterans saying how they felt in Vietnam, or of their thoughts after they had returned home. Some lines are original, written by the veteran; some are taken from songs, poems, or something the veteran has read or felt that expressed their thoughts. Some inscriptions are a single word that has meaning to the veteran. For some veterans, this is the first opportunity they have had to express their feelings in fifty years. Vietnam Veterans are finally being told, "Thank you for your sacrifice," and properly being "WELCOMED HOME." America's lack of welcome is shameful. This should never be allowed for future generations of war veterans., Along the bottom of the panels on the front and backside of the memorial are combat scenes depicting some of the equipment used by each service branch during the war. Depicted are a Huey, APC and Infantry, Amphibious Beach Landing, Dust Off, Standing Guard, F-4 Jet, Swift Boat, Artillery, Armor and other combat situations., Helicopters in Vietnam seldom flew above 1,500 feet, which was the pattern altitude for bombers, leaving them constantly exposed to hostile fire, even in their base camps., "We were soldiers once." Vietnam Helicopter members were referred to as "God's own lunatics." To be part of that Brotherhood of Lunatic Heroes was and is my prized honor, and I thank God for allowing me to be counted as one of his own., Dennis DeWine WO1 Pilot A/123 AVN Bn '68-‘69 . Cpt. Pilot 179 ASHC 1971 . Cpt. Pilot B/159 ASHC ‘71-‘72, "From working in a factory in a small town to becoming a combat helicopter pilot took little more than a year. Vietnam changed me and my life forever." Dave Gray, The helicopter provided unprecedented mobility. Without the helicopter it would have taken three times as many troops to secure the 800-mile border with Cambodia and Laos. (The politicians thought the Geneva conventions of 1954 and Geneva Accords of 1962 would secure the border.), "When the soldiers came home from Vietnam, there were no parades and no celebrations.. So they built the Vietnam Memorial for themselves." William Westmorland,

"Nam" , A Poem by Don Kennedy, Vietnam Veteran , Can We Remember When? , Nam, wasn't it grand, from the Mekong Delta to the Saigon River with the dirty sampans. From soldiers being maimed to Hanoi Jane. From the rockets' red glare to the B-52s in the air., We can remember the stink and the smell as we stepped so innocently into hell. Yes, we remember it so very well., We remember, too, the KIAs and their place in the sun, where they went as boys and came home, not one., We remember the boonies, the paddies, and that jungle rot. Then back to the world we thought we'd forgot., We remember all those brief rest stops in that hot, hot sun till the ol'sarge said, Saddle up, son., Leeches and skeeters who sucked our blood as we humped through that damned old mud. The color in the bush, green and red, and body bags of our honored dead. Yes, we remember the clicks we made from that first morning light to way into the dark, lonely night., We remember the Cobras and Hueys that fought so well, and those slicks with crosses that took us out of that hell., Our buddies we remember so well like Tex, Pelican, Lopez, Lone Eagle, and Zale. Who could forget Mamasan and Papasan with their blackened grins saying, You No. 1 G.I., V.C. No. 10., We came home with heads held in disgrace. We'd been told we'd lost in that place., Yes, remember thinking, will it ever end? Yes, we can remember when.

, "Vietnam: Sprayed and Betrayed.", "Life offers us the opportunity to become a Spiritual Warrior. A warrior is one who bravely goes into those dark areas within themselves to ferret out the truth of their being. It takes great courage, stamina, and endurance to become a Spiritual Warrior." , Native American Poetry and Prayer, "I have never told my story. I never will tell my story. No one will listen.", "God forgives, I don't.", "Spread out! One heat tab will get you all!", "One Soldier Makes a Team." , Eddie L. Bell, Sr. ('68–'69), "If ever there is tomorrow when we're not together... there is something you must always remember. You are braver than you believe, stronger that you seem, and smarter than you think. But the most important thing is, even if we're apart... I'll always be with you.”, “He who has never learned to obey cannot be a good commander.”, "The most important person in the world is the guy to your left, and the guy to your right.", “War sends boys in and men come out.”, “I can’t tell someone else what I have been through. They either know or they don’t.” , Faith whispers to the warrior, "You cannot withstand the storm," and the warrior whispers back, "I am the Storm.", “When you think about death, you can’t help but think about life.”, Women served to secure our freedom during times of peace and war in all branches of our military. Women continue to serve America with honor, dignity, and pride! “For those who fight for it, life has a meaning the protected will never know.”, “Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:13, “My opinion: My time in Vietnam convinced me, war should be fought by the Law Makers (old men) that declared the war, and by them only. Then there would be no war.” Dr. Don L. Ellis, Col., Ret. MC, If there is nothing worth fighting and dying for, then there is nothing worth living for., MEDEVAC helicopters flew nearly 5,000,000 missions. Over 900,000 patients were airlifted (nearly half were Americans). The average time lapse between wounding and hospitalization was less than one hour. As a result, less than one percent of all Americans wounded who survived the first 24 hours died., “Ours was a friendship forged in our lives in that war and now in our next lives.”, “Jesus loves the skids.” 240th Assault Helicopter Company patch, The “DUSTOFF” pilot legacy is to never leave until you have the wounded aboard your aircraft. Major Charles Kelly, Army DUSTOFF pilot, gave his life to establish that legacy, and all DUSTOFF pilots to follow him strive to live up to the standard that warriors on the ground have grown to expect from us. I am a DUSTOFF pilot! Otis D. Evans, U.S. Army Medical Service Corps, Aviator, At the end of Operations Homecoming in the spring of 1973, 2646 Americans did not return from Southeast Asia – They were "unaccounted for.", As of March 2016, 1,622 Americans are unaccounted for in Southeast Asia. Where are they now? All Americans continue to search, forever if need be., “Our country is in mourning because a soldier died today.”, “In time of peace, sons bury their fathers. In times of war, fathers bury their sons.”, “Nowhere to run to, no place to hide.” Martha and the Vandellas, et al., “I’ve been sleeping; just lay me down.”, “When engaged in battle, soldiers lose all ethnic and cultural differences. All efforts are concentrated toward preserving each other and defeating a common enemy.” Timothy Hancock, CSM, USA, Ret.,

The POW/MIA Table: A Place Setting for One, a Table for All , The tradition of setting a separate table in honor of our prisoners of war and missing comrades has been in place since the end of the Vietnam War. The manner in which this table is decorated is full of special symbols to help us remember our brothers and sisters in arms., THE BIBLE represents faith in a higher power and the pledge to our country, founded as one nation under God., THE BLACK NAPKIN stands for the emptiness these warriors have left on the hearts of their families and friends. A Purple Heart metal can be pinned to the napkin., THE SINGLE ROSE reminds us of their families and loved ones., THE RED RIBBON represents the love of our country, which inspired them to answer the nation's call., THE YELLOW CANDLE and its yellow ribbon symbolized the everlasting hope for a joyous reunion with those yet accounted for., THE SLICE OF LEMON on the bread plate reminds us of their bitter fate., THE SALT upon the bread plate represent the tears of their families., THE WINE GLASS, turned upside down, reminds us that our distinguished comrades cannot be with us to drink a toast or join in the festivities of the evening.

"Jesus, my soul is in your hands". "Our country called. We came and we fought., We laughed and cried. Now we remember those who were captured, wounded, or died." Anon, "The cost of the Vietnam War was America's young." Tony Drake, Reverse Side , It's time that we recognize that ours was, in truth, a noble cause." President Ronald Reagan, "You only get one shot at life so... you better make it count.", "As long as he is in my memory, his spirit lives.", "Let us understand: North Vietnam cannot defeat or humiliate the United States. Only Americans can do that." Richard M. Nixon - 1969, "No event in American history is more misunderstood than the Vietnam War. It was misreported then, and is misremembered now. Richard M. Nixon-1985, "sin loi", "dinky dao" "GI numba 1, VC numba 10", I am a warrior of a different sort. I never use violence or aggressive force. An armor of love protects me from hate. A shield of humanity keeps my ego in place. A sword of compassion I wield now and then. To clear past illusions constructed by men..., "It won't hurt you. It's just to kill plants. It's called Agent Orange... and it won't bother humans." Karl Marlantes (Matterhorn), "Why?" R.E.J., "I love the smell of napalm in the morning. It smells like Victory." Francis Ford Coppola, "Apocalypse Now", "The life of man upon earth is a warfare." -Job 7:1, "Kill for Peace," "Back to the World!" "Short", "Didi mao!", The desert wind would salt their ruins and there would be nothing, no ghost or scribe, to tell any pilgrim in his passing how it was that people had lived in this place and in this place had died. Cormac McCarthy, "Nothing ever lasts forever.", "Not everyone who lost their life in Vietnam died there. Not everyone who came home from Vietnam ever left there.", We fought a war against a hostile enemy. We came home and fought a war against hostile Americans. We lost 58,000 American warriors in Nam, all who came home were lost to American apathy. Lt Col Floyd Smith, USAF (Ret), Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth, And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings; Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth. Of sun-split clouds, --and done a hundred things. You have not dreamed of --Excerpt from a poem High Flight, One out of every 10 Americans who served in Vietnam was a casualty. As of June 2016; 58,315 (number may vary) names appear on the Vietnam Memorial in Washington D.C. as honored soldiers and there were 304,000 wounded out of 2.59 million who served. Although the percent that died is similar to other wars, amputations or crippling wounds were 300 percent higher than in World War II. 75,000 Vietnam Veterans were severely disabled., The average infantryman in the South Pacific during World War II saw about 40 days of combat in four years. The average Infantryman in Vietnam saw about 240 days of combat in one-year, thanks to the mobility of the helicopter.,

"As I have watched on television newscast those heroic helicopter rescues, under fire in Vietnam, of young men wounded in enemy territory: their fellows, forgetful of their own safety, putting their young lives in peril as though the lives to be rescued were their own., There, I would say if we are looking truly for an example in our day is an authentic rendition of the labor of Love." , Quote by author Joseph Campbell"

, General Gíap, North Vietnam Military once wrote: , 'What we still don't understand is why you Americans stopped the bombing of Hanoi. You had us on the ropes. If you had pressed us a little harder, just for another day or two, we were ready to surrender! It was the same at the battle of TET. You defeated us! We knew it, and we thought you knew it. But we were elated to notice your media was helping us. They were causing more disruption in America than we could in the battlefields. We were ready to surrender. You had won!" The Vietnam War was not lost in Vietnam it was lost at home. The same slippery slope, sponsored by the U.S. media, is currently underway. It exposes the enormous power of a Biased Media to cut out the heart and will of the American public. A truism worthy of note:... Do not fear the enemy, for they can take only your life. Fear the media, for they will distort your grasp of reality and destroy your honor., Under the USA treaty with South Vietnam, they were to be given ($1.13 Billion); however, Senator Kennedy and Senator Church pushed through Congress a bill that cut appropriations to $700 million in 1975. A North Vietnamese General wrote after the fall of Saigon: The South was compelled "to fight a poor man's war" with its fire-power decreased "by nearly 60% and with a 50% reduction in mobility." This is the reason South Vietnam was over run by North Vietnam in 1975, a war lost in Congress, because they felt money was more important than lives and freedom of a people., National Review, April 29, 1977 , Excerpts The New Vietnam Le Thi Anh , U.S. antiwar groups don't want to be reminded of Vietnam for fear of having to admit that their marches, demonstrations and successful cut-the-aid campaign resulted in death or detention for thousands of South Vietnamese, many of whom were their partners in non-Communist opposition to President Thieu., THE BLOODBATH is motivated not so much by hatred or revenge as by the necessity for the Communist system to purge itself of undesirable elements. From a Marxist viewpoint, political purge is a necessity in order to achieve political purity, a precondition to the building of socialism. Political purity ensures single mindedness, which in turn achieves high efficiency. The Vietnamese Communists, as they showed in their conduct of the war, are doctrinaire, single minded, and efficient. But, not until all Vietnamese-men, women, and children - think the Communist way, will political purity be achieved for the new nation as a whole. This is why indoctrination - "re-education" as they call it-is of prime importance. For those who are too old or too stubborn to change, elimination is the only alternative., Some of the atrocities committed by the North Vietnam communist: After the fall of Saigon in 1975, the Communists located 30,000 files that listed many of the South Vietnam citizens that were employed by the U.S. This gave the Communist an opportunity to arrest over 30,000 individuals and send over 200,000 to death in North Vietnam or into re-education programs., During this period, the Communists began to purge the South of intellectuals, authors, scholars, professors, western educated technicians, and student leaders. At least 2,500 individuals were affected by this tactic used during the war when the Communists would invade a village, and kill anyone in authority., If a lie is told loud enough and long enough then people begin to think it as the truth, but it is still a lie. A lie, such as, the U.S. lost the Vietnam War; that is the loud, long lie the media started in 1968 and repeated by misinformed, often paid, young protesters. The media, shame on you, Mr. and Ms. Media, shame for shame, is still telling that lie to this day., Fact about Vietnam , 9,087,000 military personnel served on active duty during the official Vietnam era from August 5, 1964 to May 7, 1975. , 2,709,918 Americans served in uniform in Vietnam. Vietnam Veterans represented 9.7% of their generation. , 240 men were awarded the Medal of Honor during the Vietnam War. , The first man to die in Vietnam was James Davis, in 1961. He was with the 509th Radio Research Station. Davis Station in Saigon was named for him. , 58,148 were killed in Vietnam. (Number may vary) , 75,000 were severely disabled. , 23,214 were 100% disabled. , 5,283 lost limbs. , 1,081 sustained multiple amputations. , Of those killed, 61% were younger than 21. , 11,465 of those killed were younger than 20 years old. , Of those killed, 17,539 were married. , Average age of men killed: 23.1 years. , Five men killed in Vietnam were only 16 years old. , The oldest man killed was 62 years old. , Vietnam veterans have a lower unemployment rate than the same non-vet age groups. , Vietnam veterans' personal income exceeds that of our non-veteran age group by more than 18 percent. , 87% of Americans hold Vietnam Veterans in high esteem. , There is no difference in drug usage between Vietnam Veterans and non-Vietnam Veterans of the same age group (Source: Veterans Administration Study). , Vietnam Veterans are less likely to be in prison - only one-half of one percent of Vietnam Veterans has been jailed for crimes. , 85% of Vietnam Veterans made successful transitions to civilian life., "Thank you for your service, both combat and support. Without you there is no America.", "There are more of us alive, but for how long.", "Above all, Vietnam was a war that asked everything of a few and nothing of most of America." Myra MacPherson, "Engineers pave the way!", Goooood morning Vietnam!" Adrian Cronauer, "We build so much with so little that we can almost build anything with nothing SFC Ezechial Bermea Sr. (ret) 21st Supply and Service Co., Phan Rang, '66-'67., "Like Chicken Man, there were Charlie's everywhere!", "FREEDOM IS NOT FREE!", "The troops in Vietnam didn't Lose that war, we never lost a battle. Congress lost that war! Shame on you, America, for allowing that situation to happen." T.K. Capt. 67-68, "The problem with drawing lines in the sand is with a breath of wind they can be wiped out.", "It don't mean nuthin, just another day in the Nam.", "SADDLE UP!", "Courage, above all things, is the first quality of a warrior.", "Incoming!" (Just about everybody), "Home is where you dig it." Khe Sanh 1968, During the Vietnam War the Tet Offensive was one of the largest offensives of the war and was launched in January-February 1968 by the Vietcong and the North Vietnamese army. Timed to coincide with the first day of the Tet (Vietnamese New Year), it was an attack on South Vietnamese cities, notably Saigon. Although the misreporting by the U.S. Media about the success of the Communist, the initial successes were repulsed and, U.S. Forces never lost a battle during the entire ten years of the Vietnam War. , Troy K. Kelley, Designer/Sculptor CAPT. Vietnam 1967-68 (Tet Offensive)