The Vietnam Memorial Wall
The Vietnam Women’s Memorial
Vietnam Women’s Memorial
by Emily Strange
He lies unseeing and seemingly unconscious cradled in her arms
as she supports his broad shoulders and touches his chest
(even now her regulation hair bunned high above her collar)
She is a professional, hardened against the horrors of war
He is merely the present in an endless line of past and future
Yet
perhaps because she knows his eyes are blind
she has momentarily allowed her face to mirror her emotions
her eyes to reveal her heart
let slip the reality that she sees not only the wounds
but the wounded
Her skilled hands will treat the damage systematically
she will be methodical in her approach
But the shutter of her camera eyes
has allowed the scenes to seep into her heart
too many images indelibly engraved
of useless limbs in buckets of blood
and once handsome boys now faceless
She will never betray to him
as she goes efficiently about her work
that his pain is her agony
that a part of her will die with him
Her credentials manifest her mission to heal
There is no time to tend her own wounded heart
Vietnam Women’s Memorial by Emily Strange | Vietnam Women’s Memorial
The Vietnam Women’s Memorial is a memorial dedicated to the nurses and women of the United States who served in the Vietnam War. It depicts three uniformed women with a wounded male soldier to symbolize the support and caregiving roles that women played in the war as nurses and other specialists. It is part of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial
In 1982, Diane Carlson Evans, who served as a U.S. Army nurse during the Vietnam War, attended the dedication of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Noting the memorial’s focus on men who served during the war, she wanted to also memorialize the more than 11,500 American women who served as nurses and in other roles. Two years later, she and two other veterans, attorney Donna-Marie Boulay and Gerald C. Bender, formed the Vietnam Women’s Memorial Foundation (VWMF), whose goal was to erect a memorial to the women who assisted in the war. In addition to the memorial, the group’s other goals was locating all women veterans of the war, and educating the public about their sacrifices.
Honoring the Nurses who Volunteered to Serve in Vietnam. Eight Gave All
In the predawn darkness of June 28, 1969, mortar rounds slammed into the 312th Evacuation Hospital in Chu Lai, Vietnam. Explosions tore through buildings, scattering debris and igniting fires amid the chaos of incoming wounded soldiers.
Lt. Sharon Lane, a 25-year-old Army nurse from Ohio, was on duty in the shock ward. As sirens wailed and staff rushed to evacuate, she refused to leave her patients—men immobilized by injuries, unable to move on their own.
Medics urged her to go. She shook her head. “Go without me,” she said, turning back to stabilize the bleeding and administer aid under the barrage.
A direct hit struck her ward minutes later. Shrapnel pierced her chest and neck. She died in route to surgery.
Lane became the only U.S. servicewoman killed by enemy fire in Vietnam. Posthumously, she received the Bronze Star with “V” for valor—the only one awarded to an American woman there—and a Purple Heart.
God bless this American hero forever.
Donut Dollies in Vietnam
PLEASE FORGIVE ME
for not remembering your name
I know it is here somewhere on the West Wall
probably around panel 20
I remember your face, your smile
as you showed me the picture of your wife and new baby
I remember how they teased the new papasan
as you danced around that desolate firebase laughing
I remember walking into ICU
as they unwrapped the gory stump that was your leg
and I remember my sorrow when the nurse whispered,
“expectant – he was already in a body bag
when the medic noticed slight breathing”
PLEASE FORGIVE ME
for not staying
I wanted to hold your hand and tell you to hang in there for your wife and new baby
but the nurses and doctors surrounded you
trying to keep you alive
and I would have only been in the way
so I told the nurse I would check on you later
PLEASE FORGIVE ME
for not returning
I just did not want to know
that another wife would receive that knock on the door
confirming her worst fears
I couldn’t bear to know that another child
would grow up having never known his Father
for I had an early take off the next morning
to fly to another desolate firebase
to laugh and dance with other soldiers
before they too were killed
PLEASE FORGIVE ME
Emily Strange
I flew to desolate fire bases
filled with the tools of war
and the men who used them.
It was my job to perform the miracle
of making the war disappear
(however briefly) for boys who had been trained to kill.
It was my mission to raise the morale
of children who had grown old too soon
watching friends die.
It was my calling
to take away fear and replace it with hope;
to return sanity to a world gone insane.
I was the mistress of illusion
as I pulled smiles from the dust and heat,
the magical genie of “back-in-the-world”
as I created laughter in the mud.
But when the show was over
I crawled back into my bottle
and pulled the cork in tightly behind me.
~Emily Strange
TOC (Tactical Operations Center)
So often I could see the boy shining through the façade of manhood
as you tried to be the first to yell out the name of the team
who won the world series in 1950
but not this morning as I watched you attach
grenades and canteens to web gear,
sling bandoleers of ammo across your broad shoulders
check your M-16s for peak performance
it was hard to fathom that you would soon be carrying
those heavy rucks
PRC-25
and M60
through miles of rice paddies
using the bug juice to coax off the leeches
no, today there would be no time to play donut dollie games
today it was necessary for you to be men
but, even as you donned your warrior gear
and steel pots adorned with
peace symbols
and “short”
you still had smiles for us
the best we could do for you today was smile back
take pictures
remind you that you weren’t animals
and walk down to the pick up point with you
to wait for the choppers
I don’t know how long we sat in that field
doing the donut dollie alternative to programming
“where ‘ya from?
what’s your favorite food?
favorite sport?
who’s your favorite actress?”
I do remember that one kid from your company
pulled a branch from a nipa palm tree
and wove me a hat as easily as
a donut dollie made kool-aid
I remember the choppers landing
watching you jump on
and waving until you were completely out of sight
before we moved on to play games with the next company
later that day we were visiting the guys in the TOC
making jokes and laughing
when your call came in
I did not understand all of the code words
but understood enough to know you were
calling in fire support
and dustoffs
somewhere deep inside,
I added another sandbag to the bunker
I was building around my heart
and put on my eleanor rigsby face
that i kept in the jar by the door
as we moved on to play games with
the next company
Emily Strange
If you would like to Honor anyone KIA or MIA, or Women of Vietnam, please submit your request to admin@khesanhvet.com
THOSE OF US WHO CAME HOME MUST NEVER FORGET THOSE WHO COULD NOT…
Remember … The Vietnam Wall
Thank you to all who served…A little history most people will never know. Interesting Veterans Statistics off the Vietnam Memorial Wall: There are 58,267 names now listed on that polished black wall, including those added in 2010. The names are arranged in the order in which they were taken from us by date and within each date the names are alphabetized. It is hard to believe it is 36 years since the last casualties. The first known casualty was Richard B. Fitzgibbon, of North Weymouth, Mass. Listed by the U.S. Department of Defense as having been killed on June 8, 1956. His name is listed on the Wall with that of his son, Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Richard B. Fitzgibbon III, who was killed on Sept. 7, 1965. There are three sets of fathers and sons on the Wall. 39,996 on the Wall were just 22 or younger. 8,283 were just 19 years old. The largest age group, 33,103 were 18 years old. Twelve (12) soldiers on the Wall were 17 years old. Five 5 soldiers on the Wall were 16 years old. One soldier, PFC Dan Bullock was 15 years old. 997 soldiers were killed on their first day in Vietnam. 1,448 soldiers were killed on their last day in Vietnam. 31 sets of brothers are on the Wall. Thirty one sets of parents lost two of their sons. 54 soldiers attended Thomas Edison High School in Philadelphia. I wonder why so many from one school. Eight 8 Women are on the Wall. Nursing the wounded. 244 soldiers were awarded the Medal of Honor during the Vietnam War; 153 of them are on the Wall. Beallsville, Ohio with a population of 475 lost 6 of her sons. West Virginia had the highest casualty rate per capita in the nation. There are 711 West Virginians on the Wall.
The Marines of Morenci – They led some of the scrappiest high school football and basketball teams that the little Arizona copper town of Morenci (pop. 5,058) had ever known and cheered. They enjoyed roaring beer busts. In quieter moments, they rode horses along the Coronado Trail, stalked deer in the Apache National Forest. And in the patriotic camaraderie typical of Morenci’s mining families, the nine graduates of Morenci High enlisted as a group in the Marine Corps. Their service began on Independence Day, 1966. Only 3 returned home.
The Buddies of Midvale – LeRoy Tafoya, Jimmy Martinez, Tom Gonzales were all boyhood friends and lived on three consecutive streets in Midvale, Utah on Fifth, Sixth and Seventh avenues. They lived only a few yards apart. They played ball at the adjacent sandlot ball field. And they all went to Vietnam. In a span of 16 dark days in late 1967, all three would be killed. LeRoy was killed on Wednesday, Nov. 22, the fourth anniversary of John F Kennedy’s assassination. Jimmy died less than 24 hours later on Thanksgiving Day. Tom was shot dead assaulting the enemy on Dec. 7, Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day.
The most casualty deaths for a single day was on January 31, 1968 ~ 245 deaths.
The most casualty deaths for a single month was May 1968 – 2,415 casualties were incurred.
For most Americans who read this they will only see the numbers that the Vietnam War created. To those of us who survived the war, and to the families of those who did not, we see the faces, we feel the pain that these numbers created. We are, until we too pass away, haunted with these numbers, because they were our friends, fathers, husbands, wives, sons and daughters. There are no noble wars, just noble warriors.
NATHANIEL E JACKSON was killed on APRIL 16,1968, 1 of 74 BROTHERS killed in 1968, while in the service of their country. We shall never forget any of YOU, REST IN PEACE BROTHERS
YOU LIVE IN MY HEART
Posted on 6/10/99 – by Eddie Williams
Nathaniel, You were my squad leader and we were from the same hometown. we talked a lot about back home; back in the world. When I was new to the squad, you took me under your wing, protected me and showed me all the right things to do. We made it thru the seige of Khe Sanh, but I got hit on April 8th on Hill 689. You and most of the platoon got killed on April 16th ambush. The Walking Dead 1/9 walked into a big one that day so I read. I have always felt bad about not being there with you that day. I saw Chip later in the hospital and he said that you died protecting your team. That is the best thing that can be said about a #Marine.
Mike Mason was just shy of 5 years old when his brother Bill came back from Vietnam in 1968.
Bill was a corporal in the Marine Corps and he fought at the Siege of Khe Sanh, one of the longest and deadliest battles of the conflict.He survived the fight and made his way home, but his time in Vietnam still hastened his death: Battlefield conditions, injuries and malaria all exacerbated a kidney problem Bill was born with — so much so that he was medically discharged. Bill died just three years after returning home at age 24.
“It was a terrible time for my family. It was right before Christmas,” Mike Mason said. “My dad says, ‘Come on, hop in a car.’ I can remember going down Skylark Road and making a right and trying to figure out what was going on. And my father said to me, ‘Billy has passed away. He was sick and couldn’t get better.’ ”
The Mason family is one of many in Greenwich that still lives with the memory of the Vietnam era.
HM3 Charles Benham Boynton Jr.
15 Nov 1947 – 16 Apr 1968 (aged 20)
KILLED IN ACTION VIETNAM (KHE SANH)
UNITED STATES NAVY
HOSPITAL CORPSMAN 3RD CLASS, BATTLEFIELD MEDIC
H&S CO, 3RD BN, 9TH MARINES, 3RD MAR DIV
HE IS HONORED ON THE VIETNAM VETERANS MEMORIAL WALL PANEL 50E LINE 11
Graduate of Dundalk High School Class of 1965 and enlisted in the Navy in June of 1966. He was killed in action at the Marine Garrison @ Khe Sanh where he served as a battlefield medic. He had been in Vietnam since November 1967 and was assigned to Khe Sanh on January 22nd. He served the area during the worst days of the Communist 3-month siege.