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Saturday, August 12, 2006
Vietnam veterans memorial
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Because it's here "I just came by the wall because it's here. We're here visiting my granddaughter, which is in the Navy. So we came by the wall, being just here." "Only one I really knew was Capt. Richard Edris. He was a captain of the destroyer escort I was on and I got out right before it went to Vietnam. I got out in '65, and then they sent the ship to Vietnam and he was killed in Saigon, just on shore (leave)." "He was the captain of my ship. It was a small ship, a destroyer escort, and everybody knew everybody. I went through probably three captains, and he was the finest one we ever had. I was sorry to hear that he got it in Vietnam, I knew they sent a ship there, but he was just on shore . . . . went on leave and got killed in Saigon." "(It) might not have been a popular war, but these guys did what their government sent them to do, and that's all we have to remember them by. "Like all of our (troops)soldiers, they do what they're told to do, and we got to respect that, . . . whether we like the war or not."
Arthur A. Alvey For my friend "I'm here for the Vietnam War (memorial) for my friend Ron Eames Sr., and I'm a good friend of his son from Waterville, Maine. "I think about the wall, 'cause of the memory. My cousin was in Vietnam back in the '60s, and I was a kid back then. I remember my cousin came back from Vietnam in '67, '68, and the memory. . . . I lost one soldier through another, 'cause I lost good friends and stuff."
Debra Cayouette The ability to see it "I was looking for a name on the wall, and I was in Vietnam. This person was my radio man. Shortly after I left, I was told he died, and his name is there. "It was around 1967, in which my tour was, when he died." "I was in the Marine infantry. I was a rifleman when I got there and I was a squad leader when I left. I was only 18 years old. Worked in the Da Nang area of the DMZ. Had a few large battles. Most of them was guerilla fire and stuff like that; a lot of patrols." "Why did I bring my son? Well, I'm also 100 percent disabled veteran, so it's talked about a lot in my family. He knows the whole story. I have difficulty concentrating and stuff like that, and my son does a good job. Actually, he helped me find a name on the wall. He helps me quite a bit." "I think (the memorial is) a great idea. Not everyone can get to Washington, D.C. Gives everyone a chance, even people who aren't veterans. It's in their neighborhood. They have the ability to see it."
Gary Sweeney It's emotional "I'm here to honor all the vets and people who serve in the military, lost and not forgotten. I get emotional." "My aunt's son, Sheldon Hicks, was lost in Vietnam; and my aunt's brother, Johnny Calvert, served. He couldn't come today, 'cause it bothered him too much. We've been looking forward to this for a long time." "It's emotional, very emotional. I just want to hug everyone I see. It's beautiful." "It's honoring (the veterans), which they didn't get before, you know? They weren't treated right, so this is actually honoring them and everybody's supporting them now. It's what they deserve."
Barbara Mackie Terrible memories "He (brother George Robert Darling) was just one of 12 (siblings). It brings back terrible memories." "My mother and father's out here. They got benches out here. It's just coincidence that the wall came. It's just . . ." (chokes up) "It's hard. It really is. The memories, it brings them all up again. He was just 20 years old. It's just hard. I just lost another brother and sister." "He was in the reserves and he joined the Navy. I remember when we took him to the airport. He said he'd never see us again" (chokes up again). "I'm sorry. It's just hard, brings up things that you push down."
Jim Darling Staff Writer Justin Ellis can be contacted at 791-6380 or at:
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