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Comment by Ricardo Jacques on April 12, 2012 at 6:46am

'Was', when I meant wasn't covered.

Comment by Ricardo Jacques on April 12, 2012 at 6:45am

A little on the Recon team position and about the size.

I was informed the recon team had cover the sides.

They thought the enemy would come up.

But one side was steep, so that was covered.

As much; that the side they were attack from.

The Viet Cong/North Vietnamese Army.

Was almost on top of that Recon team.

Before they opened fire.

I'm not sure if it was a four or six man Recon team.

It was too small in size, later I think they went to nine.

Or bigger, some were as large as seventeen men.

That size might be too big.

I read that US Army Long Range Reconnaissance Patrols, or LRRPs (pronounced "lurp").

Were special small four to six-man teams employed on highly dangerous special reconnaissance missions deep into enemy territory.

That was also the job of Battalion Recon of the US Marine Corps in Vietnam.

There was in Vietnam also a Force Recon platoon within the Recon battalion.

Now that Force Recon is part of US Special Operations Command.

Force meant Division or above, size of their patrols in Vietnam.

Might have been a recon platoon size, which are smaller.

Than an infantry platoon.

Comment by Ricardo Jacques on April 10, 2012 at 10:56am

Here again I was thinking fingers, my fingers typed 'finger'...sorry

Comment by Ricardo Jacques on April 10, 2012 at 10:54am

Finger type one thing the mind is thinking of some else.

I was thinking took exception and the fingers typed to exception.

Two more of my sorry poems;

SOME DAY

Some Day I hope I will be happy and free.
And rid of all the pain of PTSD.
It's hard to explain the pain.
The screams of a young Marine crying.
As he was dying.
So I hope Some Day to be like other men.
Happy and Free.
And rid of my friend named PTSD!

- Ricardo

Who SPEAK'S FOR THE DEAD?

I see a "WALL" were images are reflected.
From the names of those that went and met their fate.

They had no choice or deferment from their FATE.
When at this Nation bidding went to their fate.

In place of those that had a deferment.
Or excuses from their fate.
So who speaks for the DEAD at this late date?

No one as most want to forgive and forget
I'm sorry, "I just can't do that just yet...

- Ricardo

Comment by Ricardo Jacques on April 10, 2012 at 8:19am

To deal with my memories of Vietnam.

I tried poetry, mine can be best described as free verse.

A poet I'm not.

Below is my attempt at writing poetry;

58,267 NAMES

On the Vietnam Memorial Wall
I wonder what stories
They might tell?
Of their dreams.
And their fears
Will they ask
'Did we die in vain?'
Do you feel any pain?
What about our nation?
Did they learn anything?
Did our deaths teach them.
That war is not just a word.
It will mean other names.
On other 'Memorial Walls'.

+++++

MEMORIES OF VIETNAM

THERE'S
A room where memories,
Of what I became,
In Vietnam.
Just to survive.
Are stored,
They're locked tight,
And not to be opened.
Or searched.
No one has seen.
This side of my being.
He is in a place.
That nobody can find.
The memories are part.
Of my Soul.
Which will never quite heal.
When despair smothers all.
When my memory recalls.
The war, poetry gives voice.
To my SOUL!
To soar to the Heavens above
- Ricardo

+++++

REFLECTIONS OF VIETNAM

MOTHER, wake me from this nightmare.
I been in this nightmare since all those months.
I spent with hunger, death and fear as my campanions.
The smell of cordite is in my nostrials.
The sound of thunder reminds us of artillery firing.
Back firing of cars and firecrackers remind us of rifle fire.
Rain, lighting and thunder went on and on for days.
Rats, leeches and snakes were our campanions in this living hell.
Known to some as Vietnam.
It was ungodly hot and humid as well.
Cries of pain and no sound from the dead.
Ring in our ears.
We lived from day to day.
To plan for the future.
Was madness.
Because in the next moment.
You might step on a mine.
And all those plans were for naught.
When will it end?
On our death bed?
So please Mother,
Awaken me from this nightmare.
Your son.
Ricardo

+++++

Picture of a Marine
My tears were private
I saw more than a human should endure.
My friends dying beside me.
The suffering over came me,
My tears were private
There was no one that I could talk to.
I suffered alone.
My tears were private.
Can you see this picture
Of a Marine?
Can you see me?

+++++

Comment by Ricardo Jacques on April 10, 2012 at 5:11am

All this might be more than you want to know.

It might come in handy if you visit the one in Washington DC

Or a Moving Vietnam Memorial Wall.

The one in Washington the names are listed on the day they died.

There's a listing of names by alphabet in a catalog.

Some places have a digital database.

But their office might not be open.

Here in Altoona, PA they have both.

The catalog listing is out front and the computer is in the little office. 

Comment by Ricardo Jacques on April 10, 2012 at 5:02am

I FORGOT; this web page link below, it lists the dates that each panel on each side, East and West represents.

http://www.virtualwall.org/iPanels.htm

How are the panels numbered?
There are 70 separate panels (plus a panel at each end without names) on each wall, totaling 140 panels of names. The list starts and ends at the vertex, or middle, of the Memorial. Beginning with the year 1959 inscribed at the top of the panel on Panel 1 East (1E), the listing goes out to the right, to the end of the East Wall, Panel 70 East (70E). It resumes at the end of the West Wall, Panel 70 West (70W), and continues to the right, to Panel 1 West (1W), with 1975 inscribed at the very bottom. Designer Maya Lin wanted the names to be arranged in an almost circular manner, having the first names reaching out and combing back to touch the last names of those killed.

Comment by Ricardo Jacques on April 10, 2012 at 4:52am

Even the flag pole has come under-fire.
Why?
A few Marines from 8th & I decided to polish the Marine Corps part of the base of said flag pole.
The other services to exception.
So those Marines don't polish that flag pole base any more.

Comment by Ricardo Jacques on April 10, 2012 at 4:47am

Vietnam Veterans Memorial is the offical name.
At the highest tip (the apex where they meet), they are 10.1 feet high.
And they taper to a height of eight inches at their extremities.
With the addition of six names added in 2010 the total is now 58,272 names.
Listed on the Memorial, approximately 1200 of these are listed as missing.
Each name is preceded (on the W wall) or followed (on the E wall) by a symbol:
*Diamond - denotes that death was confirmed.
*Cross - denotes those Missing In Action
*Circle - will be inscribed around the cross.
If a man previously listed as MIA is found alive.
There are no circles on the wall.
There are 8 females' names on the wall.

There are 1170 dots are used to help find a name.
And come in handy when one is looking for a name on a large panel.
Each dot marks ten lines.
The dots are located on the even-numbered panels.
The system works except for Panel 1E.
The inconsistency is caused by the inscription.
At the top of the panel.

On October 13, 1982, the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts.
Approved the addition of the flag staff.
The American flag (which is 12' x 18') flies from a 60' pole.
The flag flies 24 hrs. 7 days a week.
In honor of the men and women listed on the wall.
The pole cost $18,000 excluding base.
Vietnam Veteran Memorial Fund paid for the flagpole.
From contributions it received from the American Legion.
At the base of the staff are the seals of the five military services:
Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corps and Navy.
With the following inscription going around in full circle:
THIS FLAG REPRESENTS THE SERVICE RENDERED TO OUR COUNTRY.
BY THE VETERANS OF THE VIETNAM WAR.
THE FLAG AFFIRMS THE PRINCIPLES OF FREEDOM,
FOR WHICH THEY FOUGHT AND THEIR PRIDE.
IN HAVING SERVED UNDER DIFFICULT CIRCUMSTANCES.

The Three Servicemen statue is the result of the controversy.
Surrounding Maya Ying Lin's design of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
Some veterans and their political supporters felt that The Wall.
Was "a black gash of shame" or a "giant tombstone."
It was too abstract a design for others who wanted a more heroic.
Life-like depiction of a soldier.
To meet these concerns, it was decided that a traditional statue.
would be added as an integral part of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
The statue was unveiled in 1984, two years after The Wall's completion.

The Vietnam Women's Memorial
This statue was completed by Glenna Goodacre.
The sculpture is in the round, representing that women's work.
During the war was all encompassing.
The 1st woman, Charity, is tending to a wounded soldier.
The standing women, Hope, is looking up in search of a helicopter (or perhaps God).
The kneeling figure, Faith, stares at an empty helmet.
The original concept model involved a female nurse holding a Vietnamese baby.
It was removed after much outcry it was changed to her kneeling holding a soldier's helmet.

Comment by Claudia Bartow on April 9, 2012 at 9:24pm

Thanks for sharing your moving memory, Ricardo. I can't imagine personally knowing people whose names are on The Wall. I visit it with my 8th graders in their class tro, and will do so again in May. The kids approach it and get quiet. There is something mystical about the place for sure.
We have a 6th grade teacher at my school whose brother's name is on there....David H Fisher, Milford Center, Ohio.

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