As some gave all......

It came in the mail yesterday, a rather unusual brown manila envelope with an even more unusual return address in the corner.  When Mike asked me if I knew anyone in Maryland, I had to pause a moment.  "Uhm, no I don't think so", was my reply.  The name of the sender didn't even come close to ringing the "proverbial bell" but just as soon as I opened it, I knew exactly what it was.  

On the fourth of July this summer, Mike and I had the chance to visit the Vietnam Veteran's Traveling Wall when it came to Montrose for a 5-day stay at one of our local parks.  Both of us had seen it  before but we  were very anxious to have the chance to see it once again.  It was a cool and overcast Thursday and we spent about an hour walking along the wall and seeing the many names that have been inscribed on it,  now over 58,000 in all.  We weren't alone.  Many others from this community had ventured out to see it as well.

I was particularly interested in finding the names of three young men that I knew from the wall and asked for help as I found the inscriptions for two men from my hometown of Haven, Kansas as well as the name of my sister Cindy's brother-in-law from California.  As I gave the names of Henry Fisher, Sergio Albert and Tommy Daniels to one of the volunteers working there I asked if it would be ok if I made a rubbing of the inscriptions to take home with me.  She told me that it wasn't allowed  but that if I wanted to, I could fill out a card at the front table requesting that a volunteer for "the Wall" make the journey there and do it for me.  So before we left, Mike helped me to fill out three cards, one for each of the men that I knew of in the hope that someone would indeed do this kindness for me.  Until the envelope arrived in our mailbox along Locust Road yesterday, I had nearly forgotten about it.  

I was so struck by the letter and the words contained therein, that I am including it in this blog post  in order that you all might read it as well.  As a young girl growing up in the little Reno County town of Haven, Kansas the Vietnam War seemed so very far away yet all it took to make it seem so very real to me and all of the rest of the folks that lived there, was to bury two of our town's young men less than two weeks apart from one another in the summer of 1967.  Their graves, actually quite close to one another in Laurel Cemetery, serve as a poignant reminder of the verse from the "Good Book", John 15:13-"No greater love hath a man than this, that he would lay down his life for a friend."  

For all of those who served and died in Vietnam and all of the other wars that our country has endured, this Kansas farm girl gives her thanks.  For all of those who served and returned home alive yet bearing the wounds of war for the rest of their days on earth, my heart goes out to you.  My hope will always be that the sacrifices made by so many will never be forgotten by those of who remain.  

For Henry, Sergio, Tommy and all the many others whose names are inscribed on that magnificent wall, I will forever owe a debt of gratitude.  The letter and the rubbing of the name of "Henry Lee Fisher" are shown below.  Sorry for the tiny print of the letter.  Wish I could have figured out the magic formula for making it bigger yet I hope you can still read it.  Have a good evening everyone and best wishes from the Western Slopes of Colorado.  I am alive and well, thanks be to God.

At the "Wall" here in Montrose this summer.  I had just located Henry Fisher's name.