It is a picturesque spring day at the Nation's Capital in Washington D. and the streets are swarming with people, exploring and uncovering all the sights of the city. While walking down a congested path, I wander over to a long dim wall, set deep into the earth, away in the corner of the National Mall. At the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, I silence and look, standing unresponsive. There is a woman, dressed in her U.S. Naval Academy uniform, who stands speculating about where her future will take her. A grandmother, holding her grandson's hand, softly places a flower down at the Women's Memorial, honoring her lost sister, as an international visitor stands bewildered at the number of names listed along the wall. In the distance, I observe a veteran kneeling down, quietly weeping as his hands scour the polished black stone.
Name after name appears, over 58,000 men and women, in an almost never-ending account. The listing appears chaotic, just like war. For that amount of young men and women to die for such a questionable cause is especially unsettling. It is too much to ask for a man to die for his country. This breathtaking commemoration reminds me of our world's existing problems. People, still, are sacrificing lives for their country every day over disputable issues.
I never truly comprehended the effect that the Vietnam War had on our nation until today. As I depart from the memorial the patrolling veterans, dressed in costume honoring lost soldiers, display their pride in a solemn demeanor. I am filled with a feeling of patriotism and, at the same time, sorrow. Although the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was envisioned to help heal the wounds America suffered from the division and controversy of the Vietnam War, nothing can possibly pay compensation for the destruction done or the pain inflicted to our nation.
