Memorial Day 2020

Memorial Day in the US, is observed on the last Monday in May. It has been set aside to honor those who have fallen in combat, in service to their country. The names of those who made the ultimate sacrifice in Vietnam  are recorded on the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington DC. The following observations were made by my friend Mike Jeffery, Capt. USMC

"The Wall" contains 58,429 names.

39,900 were 22 years old or younger

8,283 were 19 years old or younger

33,193 were 18 years old

12 were 17 years old

5 were 16 years old

3 set of fathers and sons

31 sets of brothers

8 women

997 died on their first day "in country"

1,448 died on their last day "in country"

153 received The Congressional Medal of Honor

May god grant their souls eternal rest...

My wife in front of the wall on our honeymoon a few years ago.  A favorite picture of mine as she is deep in thought and the reflection really stands out.  Second picture is one of the last men to be killed during the war...left on Koh Tang Island during the Mayaguez incident.  Grew up about 10 minutes from where I currently live.  God bless them all.

Wow guys. This is really great. What a sacrifice they made.

Very nice of you to post that Darryl.

Tom

I made it a point to find Gary Hall's name...his mate Danny Marshall is listed right under him. The third member of the gun team I cannot recollect his name, but has to be close to those two Marines.

It was my second time seeing the wall...first time was on a high school trip and we were not there very long, but it was impressive then...the more recent trip was something surreal because I knew so much more about the war and the homefront reactions.