Memorial Day, Savage, Minnesota, June 2009, photo © 2013 by QuoinMonkey. All rights reserved.
Memorial Day, a somber remembrance of the men and women who gave their lives in U.S. wars. I am fortunate; I only know of one family member who died while fighting a war—my Uncle James. When I visited the Vietnam Veterans Memorial at its dedication, I did a rubbing of his name (Panel 20W – Line 32). And when I started blogging, I discovered the Vietnam Veterans Memorial website where I began leaving him messages each Memorial Day. Uncle James died seven months into his tour, in Binh Long, South Vietnam, a long way from his South Carolina home. This is the time I dedicate to him.
Yesterday, I listened to CBS Sunday Morning and was taken with Lee Cowan’s story of Charlie Haughey, a Vietnam war photographer. It reminded me of the importance of photographs to remembering the dead. During his service as a photographer in Vietnam, Charlie Haughey chronicled the daily life of soldiers in his battalion. When his tour ended, he dropped his nearly 2,000 photo negatives into a shoebox, and hid them away. Now, after 45 years, Haughey’s mesmerizing images of soldiers battling the physical and emotional hardships of war are seeing the light of day. You can see in his eyes, they still bring him pain.
To all of the fallen, and for Uncle James. Never forgotten.
-posted on red Ravine, Memorial Day, May 27th, 2013
QM, I watched 60 Minutes, too, and was touched by that interview. I shake my head and wonder when, on earth, we are ever going to stop the killing!!
Today, some of us in DAR are going to a “Salute ceremony” at the State Veterans’ Memorial Park, which is here in Cody. It was created to commemorate our Veterans of all the wars our nation has been a part of. WY and MT have had “Honor Flights” taking every WWII Veteran who wants to go, on a free trip to Washington, DC, to see the Memorials there. (I don’t know about other states.) For most of them, it was their first trip to DC, and they really appreciate it.
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oliverowl, I will have to check and see if Minnesota takes part in the Honor Flight to Washington, DC. That really does honor their service in an amazing way. Did you see the other story about the veteran of WW II who was interviewed? He volunteers his time at a museum and speaks to kids about the war. He said that the first man he killed in war haunted him for the rest of his life. And that his anger about the war made life hard for his family. Until he began volunteering at the museum. Healing seems to take many different forms, and it takes a lot of time.
When I reconnected with my aunt who had been married to Uncle James, she remembered when he died like it was yesterday. She was pregnant with their child when he was killed. She said that night he came to her room and asked how the child was, then moved on. She said it wasn’t a dream, that he was really there in the room with her, at the foot of her bed. Very powerful.
I wish I was there so I could go to the park with you. I think Mom and I are going to look into joining the DAR when I am in Pennsylvania next. She’s made some contacts there. Sadly, war is such a big part of our history in this country. I wonder, too, at when we might celebrate a little peace.
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Here is the link on the other story I listened to about Tom Blakey who was in the 82nd Airborne in WWII and on June 6, 1944, jumped out of a plane, around midnight, during the Normandy invasion. He is 93 now and volunteers at the National World War II Museum in New Orleans. He says it changed his life in so many ways, and helped him to heal.
A Living Artifact of WWII Shares His Story: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-3445_162-57586079/a-living-artifact-of-wwii-shares-his-story/
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Sharing a link to the Minnesota Vietnam Veterans Memorial. History of the memorial & chronology of the war. http://www.mvvm.org/ The MVVM is located just south of the State Capitol in St. Paul, behind the Veterans Administration building (which is on the North side of interstate # 94). The Veterans Administration building has a parking lot a short distance from the MVVM.
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[…] Shoebox Photographs: Memories Of War (redravine.wordpress.com) […]
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Thinking of you today, Uncle James. In June, I will be back in Washington, D.C. and will visit the Vietnam Veterans Memorial again, searching for your name. Thank you for your service. You gave the ultimate sacrifice. Never forgotten.
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