 | | A Visit To The Wall
March 8, 2011 |
|  Some years ago, they were having a ceremony at The Wall. I asked my brother if he'd ever been to The Wall, and he said no. Knowing that, during that time in his life, he did not like to go out alone, I asked if he would visit The Wall with me, and was surprised when he said yes.
So, we went down, parked the car quite a ways back from The Wall, and walked along with other people headed for the ceremony.
There was quite a crowd down by The Wall when we arrived, and my brother stopped beside the statue of The Three Soldiers. Some Big Wheel was giving a talk, and we stood there listening for a time, slightly apart from the crowd.
A TV cameraman, scanning the faces looking toward The Wall, paused for a moment with his video cam pointed at us. I suppose he was attracted by the obvious family resemblance – two brothers, solemnly looking down at The Wall.
After a bit, he continued his scanning.
A little later, my brother said, I'm ready to go, and I replied, OK, you don't want to get any closer? He answered, “Not now; The Wall will be here for a time.” So we left, each with his own thoughts.Author's Note: My brother and I served in Vietnam together; he arrived a month or so before I did. He was at Pleiku; I was at Trang Sup, in Tay Ninh Province. |  By Thurman P. Woodfork
Copyright 2003About Author... Thurman P. Woodfork (Woody) spent his Air Force career as a radar repairman in places as disparate as Biloxi, Mississippi; Cut Bank, Montana; Tin City, Alaska; Rosas, Spain and Tay Ninh, Vietnam. In Vietnam, he was assigned to Detachment 7 of the 619th Tactical Control Squadron, a Forward Air Command Post located on Trai Trang Sup. Trang Sup was an Army Special Forces camp situated about fifty miles northwest of Saigon in Tay Ninh province, close to the Cambodian border. After Vietnam, Woody remained in the Air Force for nine more years. Visit Thurman P. Woodfork's site for more information |
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