Traveling Vietnam Memorial Wall

there is a replica (3/4 the original size) of the vietnam memorial wall that travels around the U.S. stopping in different cities. a few weekends ago it stopped in my city. i KNEW i had to go see it. at 17 i visited D.C. and had the oppurtunity to see the actual one. my father is a vetran of the war. and growing up we heard SO many stories of his experiences in the war. i thought i had heard them all. but there was one i must have missed. first let me tell you a little bit about how my dad grew up. his mom died during childbirth when he was about 5. his dad tried to take him in as well as several other family members. but , he ended up being sent to an orphanage. he spent about 8 years there. that in itself really saddens my heart. an orphange is no place for any child to grow up. i dont know the conditions of the orphange he grew up in but i can just imagine. a black child in the 50's....i just dont see it as being great. fast forward thru the eight years and his grandmother comes to get him out of the orphange. he goes to high school , graduates and enlists in the military. eventually he was shipped to vietnam. when they arrived there, a guy by the name of richard mckinney told him "rollins, stay with me and i will take care of you". i'm not sure how many months later this next incident happened, but they had had a night of heavy fire/bombing and in the morning they were told to go out and count the bodies of the dead (of the enemy). as my dad and richard mckinney were out, they somehow tripped a booby trap. richard mckinney got in between my dad and the explosion, to protect him, taking the force of the blast. he died a week later. too him my dad not only owes his life, but i owe my life as well. he really did take care of him. God really watched over him. thinking of this, it really saddens me to think of the welcome that many of the troops recieved when they came home from vietnam. being spit on, talked about, etc. i mean seriously, even if you didnt agree with the war, these man have just risked their lives and many did not come back! show some compassion and human kindness. direct your energy towards the ones sending them not the ones fighting to help protect your freedom. i just cannot imagine men and women so young going over to iraq (and other wars). just the entire experience. how can you wrap your mind around that at such a young age. i hear about kids fresh out of highschool going to war. i just really cannot comprehend it. man, i just wish we could all just get along. we all just really want the same things, dont we?