• Saturday-What'sUP July 18 - 05:45 pm

"IN HONOR OF THE MEN AND WOMEN OF THE ARMED FORCES OF THE UNITED STATES WHO SERVED IN THE VIETNAM WAR. THE NAMES OF THOSE WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES AND OF THOSE WHO REMAIN MISSING ARE INSCRIBED IN THE ORDER THEY WERE TAKEN FROM US."

I don't really know anybody who died over there, but I'd love to see that wall some day!

Thanks, Brenda,for the pictures and thank you Mary for displaying them today on this web site. I have seen the moving wall and it is truly "moving".

Have several comrades on the wall including my cousin Franklin DuLong. Also remember the countless other veterans whose lives were ruined because of serving during this war. They are heros also.

A beautiful tribute to our fallen soldiers, sailors, marines, and airmen. Thank you for taking these pictures and sharing them here.

I shed tears when I see the "WALL", there are still MIA's that the military are finding. I pray that some day all will be brought home.

I WAS SURPRISED TO HEAR AN UNTOLD STORY ABOUT VIETNAM; THERE WAS MUCH PERSECUTION OF CHRISTIANS GOING ON IN VIETNAM BEFORE THE WAR. I BELIEVE A LOT OF THAT WAS STOPPED BY OUR GOING TO WAR THERE. I CAN'T UNDERSTAND WHY I NEVER HEARD THIS A LONG TIME AGO. ??THIS INFORMATION WOULD HAVE CAUSED MORE SUPPORT FOR THE WAR.

You're right, Dan. It would have. Thank you for sharing. I didn't know that either. I know I hated that war, the way I hate the one we're in now. Was always afraid that some of my good friends were going to be called. I know people who were in that war who still will not talk about what went on over there. So sad!

Bob and I have several friends whose names are on the Moving Wall. And there are plenty of my older brothers classmates/friends names as well. It was always difficult for Bob to play taps for his fellow classmates/friends military funerals.

I served in Vietnam. In one day we lost four gunships and 6 pilots. We pressed on to support the ground troops. To this day I can envision the hollow eyes of an infantryman fresh returning from weeks in the field. I still can see his depth of emotional drain in his persona.

The first time I saw the real wall was in DC many years ago. I thought I had put this all behind me. I realized that day that the experience was in the past but the sense of loss was buried deep in my emotions. I wept uncontrollably.

Yes, there was and is persecution of Christians in many countries including Vietnam to this day. We never hear of it. Our "free press" doesn't necessarily report it like many things we have the right to know.

Do not forget our soldiers. Do not forget the persecuted.

Janie, thank Bob for his taps, always brings a tear to my eyes when I hear it.

Be it the Moving Wall or The Wall in Washington D.C. , the sight of 58,191 names is a shock to your senses. Each name having a mother, father, family and friends. I visited The Wall in D.C. a number of years ago. Other than The Wall itself, what has stayed with me thru the years is the silence you hear upon entering this area. You have just come from visiting other monuments to Lincoln and Washington. Vacationers are laughing and enjoying themselves, then you enter the area of The Wall and silence. All you hear is the occasional hushed whisper carried on the breeze.

I lost my cousin David Cavis in the Vietnam War. He died on February 22,1968. I'll never forget getting the news. I'd had written to him right before he dies & one day I got my mail & the letter had been returned to me labeled "DECEASED".He sent chills thrugh my body to know he never was able to read it. I unknowingly (until I was on the train) traveled from Chicago with my cousin's body when I was coming home for his service. Imagine my shock when I found that out from the serviceman seated next to me that he was escorting David back home.
There were 6 (or more) from the UP who were killed about the same time. I knew 3 of them. One being Willy Rheault from Lake LInden.
We should never forget the sacrifice these men gave to protect us & give us our freedom, that goes for all servicemen.
I've seen the Moving Wall & I'd really like the see the Wall In Washington D.C. I have a rubbing of David's name.

Doug, when you recall how the visitors to the "WALL" in D.C. became silent when they entered the area. That reminds me when my wife and I visit the USS Arizonia, while waiting for the boat to take us to the memorial everyone is talking and laughing. But upon stepping on to the memorial there is silence. I had the honor of going on the Arizonia memorial three times so far, I still have to go and visit the "WALL" in D.C..It is a sight to be on the Arizonia memorial which started WWII and look at the USS Missouri where the Japanese signed the document of surrender. I know that the United States is the Police of the world. But enough is enough Pray that there is Peace in World soon!!!!!!!!!

Many years ago, my husband and I took our children to see the
Vietnam Memorial. Like Doug, I remember the hushed
atmosphereas we approached the Wall. I looked up two people
that I knew who died during that war. I found both names. One
was a "boy" from the farm next to my aunt's family, Philip
Onkalo. I remembered how we had all played together and
explored the woods behind the farm not that many years before.
Then I visited the name of Daniel Schmidt, a fellow student at
Osborn High School in Detroit. I remembered how we had been
in a play together--"The Curious Savage." These were by no
means close friends, but even so, I was devastated when I
looked at their names. The power of the monument is that you
see your own reflection behind the names and can't help but
realize that while you have aged, they have never had the chance
to do so.

My brother Edward L. Kolka is on that wall I cry whenever I visit it. My Best friend Mark Cavis's brother David is there also. We all attended Dollar Bay High School. Mark lost his brother less then two weeks before my brother was killed on March 2, 1968. Mark and I became best friends at that time and we helped each other work through a very trying time in our lives. I think of Ed every day, it has been 41 years since his death. I too had a letter returned. I miss him dearly. You can also visit the wall on the Internet at; http://www.virtualwall.org/. Please view the memorials loved ones have made to remember their sons, daughters, brothers, sisters and friends lost in the Vietnam war. My God bless them and may they rest in piece.

Pat Kolka

THE WALL is a sobering experience for all of my generation, especially those of us who served in the Military. When I enlisted in 1969, it appeared that I was on a path directly to Vietnam. The U.S. Army - the big green pleasure machine - suddenly decided it had too many Infantry Lieutenants and I was sent to Colorado instead. It took years before I could visit the Wall. There are the names I knew were there and the fear of finding someone I had lost touch with on it. Then there is the thought that one of the names from 1970-71 could have been mine - that someone replaced me.

I forgot about Willie. I think my cousin was engaged to him at the time that he died over there. So many lives lost. And then no appreciation when they got back.

The Wall, USS Arizona, Gettysburg, all hallowed ground. A lot of sad, painful memories, but nonetheless, memories we need to reflect on from time to time, lest we forget.

Dan Belo's comment about persecution of Christians in Vietnam prior to the war there reminded me of what I once was told by a professor of theology many years ago. He said that if Christians would have stayed out of countries where they were not welcome, there would have been less conflict among the population and thereby less reason for government intervention.

Wow....there is so much to add! First off, thank you both Brenda and Mary...the pictures are phenomenal. I too, have seen the Moving Wall..when it was in South Range, but haven't been to D.C. Yes...the quiet was there. Hallowed Ground, was there! The quiet was broken by the crying that was softly going on...TAPS was played. It was beyond a moving experience. I am in tears here again...like it was yesterday at the Memorial..I can't imagine being there, fighting that fight. God Bless all of you that did, and all of those that perished there.

I've talked to a couple of Vets. You don't want to hear what went on there. Trust that.

And God Bless them all...the ones living, the ones killed in action, prisoners of war, missing in action, AND the ones that have died back here on American soil...that war caused a lot of deaths, and it still is.

Wings!

Mikie..I sent your expression of thanks to Bob. It was always an honor for him to play taps. Bob played taps for military funerals as young as 9 yrs. of age. He was, and still is a great horn player. When he played taps, he was the one who stood at the gravesite, all eyes and ears upon him, no chance for hitting the wrong key. Today a lot of taps is played by tape recordings, sadly, not too many real tap players today.

My son, who will be a senior in high school this coming school year, has played taps at military funerals for a couple of years. He loves doing it, his grandad is a WWII vet.

KOSK
You mention Osborn High in Detroit. My sister graduated from
there. I am not sure what year, but she is 59 yrs old. Did you live
in that area???

When I was in grade school, St. Joseph's, in Lake Linden, our little band used to go out and play at the cemetery. We'd play taps, and I'd have to go and stand in the woods to play the echo. I played trombone, and my folks said it was just so cool! I wish I could have heard it but I always had to play. It still gives me goosebumps!

When my brother died and he came home with an escort, a very young guy-almost as young as my brother was, he said that was the first time he escorted someone home to the family. Even though he was not old enough to drink (21), my stepdad still took him out for a drink when his duties were done. At the funeral my mom did not want taps, but had the 21 gun salute. Even after all these years I still cry when I go out to his grave.

I didn't know that was how your brother died because you never told me. That's so sad. It's always sad, but to come home like that. I'm so very sorry, Shelly!

One of my granddaughters is burying her fiance this weekend. There was a grand photo display of his time he served in the Marines. He survieved Iraq but was killed along with his friend, the conductor, in a train derailment this week. Both 27 years young. Both great hard- working young men. God be with Josh and Andrew and their families....

Hey Deb, I remember when the band used to do that, too. It was awesome with the trombone in the woods as the echo. I looked forward to being able to do that, but I think they stopped doing that before I got to the first chair.

Taps always brings tears to my eyes....always.

The wall is a moving experience. I was with a few of the brave Marines and one Navy Corpsman whose names are on that wall.
Just touching their names on the wall is a powerful experience for me.
I just wrote a story on a Marine website about one of them and how he died.
I told his story for him, describing our last operation and how he died. Now his story is there for those who knew and cared about him.
40 years is a long time to remember things that seemed to happen yesterday.

When I attended a Catholic grade school in Midland in 1969, 1 of my classmates' brother, Gary Plante, died of wounds from serving in the Vietnam war. His funeral Mass was held at the Church with an Honor Guard, and I was 1 of the altar boys making up part of the procession. This happened less than a month before we had our 8th grade Graduation. A sad time for those involved.

I wonder why they stopped doing that, Mary! The people really seemed to enjoy it, and the band members enjoyed going out there. It was an honor to be part of that, but for some reason, I never went out there once I was finished playing. I should have since I always wanted to hear it. The LL band should consider doing that again on Memorial Day.

Other way around in Viet Nam in 1963 when my husband was an AF advisor in DaNang.....[having been sent there from KI Sawyer in Marquette] The NHU brothers were Catholic and persecuting those of the Buddhist faith..Buddhist monks were setting themselves on fire in middle of streets in Saigon, Hue and DaNang to call attention to what was going on. Ngo Dinh Diem and his brother Ngo Dinh Nhu were the leaders in Saigon at at the time. Both were assasinated in a coup in Oct of 1963 and all of this was covered by the national news at the time....the self immolations and the coup.