LETTERS: LEGACY OF VIETNAM IS A BIG LESSON

To the editor:

Last week my wife and I took our two children to view the Wall That Heals, the moving replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. We did so for an educational, historical activity. To our children, ages 9 and 13, the Vietnam War is something from ancient history.

However, I found myself unable to answer their questions about Vietnam or the Wall. My inability came not from a lack of knowledge, but rather from trying to choke back tears. Fathers, for some reasons, do no wish their children to see them cry.

I was 18 and eligible for the draft in 1972, the year that practice was done away with. I never served in the military. I know many, including my brother, who did serve, some in Vietnam, some in other supporting roles. Luckily, I know no one listed on the Wall. However, must of my teen-age years saw the Vietnam War and the unrest at home surrounding it every night in my living room, courtesy of network news.

The Wall brought back all the feelings of that young boy: fear, anxiety, hopelessness, helplessness. As I looked at the over 58,000 names, I felt the sadness, the loss. I felt responsible somehow. I felt ashamed for not having been there and gave thanks that I wasn't. I felt all these emotions, though I had no personal involvement and can only imagine how those who lost someone must feel.

No matter one's political or ethical views on Vietnam, one must appreciate the sacrifice these, and many before them, gave that we might be free. It was pride that these soldiers gave me the privilege to live in the greatest nation in history and the sense of their loss that moved me to tears.

I hope I will soon be able to compose myself and explain this to my children. I want them to understand what these 58,000 did, that their dying has helped to secure a future of freedom.

Let the world know that American is still willing to respond to a threat to our freedom. But let us all pray that we have learned from the futility of this disaster and that our children will not have to endure this tragedy. What a tribute to these fallen that would be.

So, during this Easter season, pray for those listed on the Wall and give thanks for your blessings.

Be as moved as I was.

FRED HIGDON

Benton