Three buses managed to swal-
low all of us up and the first stop
was the Second World War Mon-
ument, an incredible site, with all
50
states represented by soaring
monuments. A wreath was laid
at the Illinois column and most
of us had our picture taken there.
We walked along entertained by
The White House Band, a bunch
of beautiful kids from White
House, Texas. I talked to a lot of
them and through my fading old
eyes I saw in their bright beauti-
ful faces the future of America
if the current politicians don’t
destroy us.
Crowds of tourists were ev-
erywhere and as we walked near
them we heard them clapping
and many of them shook our
hands and thanked us for our
service. It was that way all day
long as they snapped pictures of
us and waved and flashed their
big smiles. We had with us a vet
that was 100 years old and many
in their late eighties and nine-
ties. The guys in the wheel chairs
were especially excited to see
those happy folks.
VIETNAM AND KOREA
The reflecting pool and the 18
Marines on patrol depicted there
was the most moving for me.
They look so real and if you look
just right into the long black wall
you can see faces in there and
believe me it is a touching thing
to behold.
The Vietnam Wall is the most
solemn of places. I had been there
four other times, but watching
the combat vets looking for the
names of their comrades is a nev-
er ending heartache. My escort
and new friend Gary Stamm and
I searched out the names of his
three friends and a man traced
them on paper for Gary. There
are 58,267 etched on that monu-
ment, including some fathers and
sons and tragically, 39,996 were
just 22 years old and 8,283 were
only 19.
I met Paul Gerdes at the Ma-
rine Corp Monument that depicts
the raising of the flag at Iwo
Jima; we knew each other when
we were kids. So many wonder-
ful conversations with so many
people, so much affection in one
day was simply overwhelming.
21
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The Present
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