People who grew up in the sixties no doubt have many bittersweet memories of high school and college. While school years are exciting and can be fun, young men of the era were faced with the draft upon graduation, with a deadly war ongoing, and the people who loved them had lives long overshadowed by it as well.
I was young enough to not lose anyone in that awful war, but the boss, just a few years older than I, lost his best friend and a number of baseball buddies.
We visited the traveling Memorial Wall yesterday at FMCC, something we have hoped to do for a long time, so he could trace their names and honor them in that particular way. It was very sad and moving for both of us, but especially for him. So many names....so many lost loves and loved ones. On the positive side.....many of the names were very low near the ground and neither of us could get down to trace them. A complete stranger noticed the boss struggling and came over and traced all the names he needed for him.....
Oh my. . . . .
ReplyDeleteThis is so powerful. Did the boss really know some of these men?
Cathy, yes, Robert Smith was his best friend. He has dozens of stories of the antics they got up to as young men. He played baseball with a number of others. Even in the bright, breezy morning sunshine of a lovely day, the experience of visiting that wall was indeed very powerful. I can't imagine what it must be like for people who go to the big wall in DC.
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