From: jewell@MACE.CC.PURDUE.EDU (Larry Jewell)
Newsgroups: soc.veterans
Subject: 'NamVet Newsletter, Vol.5, no.6, (5/7)
Date: 6 Sep 92 02:44:36 GMT


     devastated by the Viet Nam war.  I was overwhelmed with the desire 
     to  walk  those highlands one day befriending again those  we  had 
     left  behind.  Telling them in their native tongue how sorry I  am 
     for what my nation has done to their culture.   I think one day it 
     will happen!
     
     Again,  I appeal to you for help!   World Aid is not subsidized by 
     the  government  or  any other agency.   They collect all  of  the 
     
     NAM VET Newsletter                                         Page 61
     Volume  5, Number  6                                 June 10, 1991

     equipment and supplies primarily by "word of mouth".  It's through 
     people  like  you that they get their contacts.   Maybe you  can't 
     help  with supplies personally,  but perhaps you know someone  who 
     can.   Please  let us know by contacting me at the address  below.  
     If you would be interested in participating on a team I can surely 
     get  you  some information out.  We have two teams  scheduled  for 
     Nov/Dec  of  this year.  I have already received some  encouraging 
     help from individuals on this Echo.  Sherry, Gale, and others have 
     offered assistance.  This is how it is going to come about.
     
     One  paramount need in Laos at the present is vehicles.   The  Lao 
     PDR  has  let  World  Aid bring in  their  private  vehicles  from 
     Thailand but that is going to stop.   Vehicles can be purchased in 
     Laos.   Bob  wants  to get a Toyota Landcruiser and a  Toyota  4WD 
     pickup  to begin with.   If you have an old vehicle that you could 
     sell  and  donate  the money to this cause I'm sure  he  would  be 
     grateful.  Medicines and used medical equipment are always needed.   
     Used bicycles, small motorcycles, hand tools,  torches,  etc.  can 
     all be used.  Bob is shooting for a 20' container to be shipped to 
     Laos by the end of May.  We have it about 1/2 full at the present.  
     The shipping is paid for already.   We need to fill it up.   World 
     Aid U.S. headquarters is in Gig Harbor, WA just outside of Tacoma.  
     Why not let me know how you can help?
     
       For more information please contact me at:
                          P.O. Box 440
                          Mountlake Terrace, WA 98043
                          (206) 486-5383  (10 - 4:30 weekdays)
     
                          In His Name,
     
                              MIKE
     


























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     Volume  5, Number  6                                 June 10, 1991

          
          
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                                                   -Robert Nimmo-
          
          
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     


     NAM VET Newsletter                                         Page 63
     Volume  5, Number  6                                 June 10, 1991

                          Cry The Beloved Country
                         Input by: G. Joseph Peck
                         NamVet's Managing Editor
                        VETLink #1 - Pittsfield, MA
                              (413) 443-6313
     
     Rummaging  through the library at our Vietnam Veterans of  America 
     Chapter  last  week  I  came across a  beautiful  book:   "Men  of 
     Dignity"  by Paul L.  Seitz.    At our monthly meeting tonight,  I 
     went through the library again and found it - brought it home...
     
     =*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=
     
       Xem  is over sixty years old,  which is a great age to reach  in 
     the  Highlands.   He  is  an  elder  who  previously  unquestioned 
     authority  in  his village.   Now a refugee,  forced to move  five 
     times within eight years, he is today a man on the run.
     
     " ... We used to live up there at the foot of that great mountain.  
     I  have  seen the births and marriages of almost all who  are  now 
     here.   Look  how few of the men are still alive.   We could count 
     them  on your fingers and mine.  Women -  yes -  widows and a  few 
     children.  that's all.  We have grown accustomed to death. The one 
     which destroys the body does not frighten us...
     
       But  the  death which destroys our memories,  severs  the  links 
     which  give  our  life meaning and erases everything which  is  an 
     extension  of our bodies and souls:   the mountain inhabited by  a 
     Yang,  the  river whose murmur I can still hear but which my  eyes 
     cannot see, the sacred grove against which no man would have dared 
     to  raise  the iron head of his axe,  the rock at the bend in  the 
     path,   which  speaks  to  us...   everywhere  there  is  silence, 
     everything is empty today, everything is dead.
       That kind of death frightens us.   It kills more surely than the 
     other. It has destroyed our soul."
     
     -------------------------------------------------------------
     
     Turning the pages, I found a handwritten note:
     
     -------------------------------------------------------------
     
     Paul Seitz                                   U.S. Address
     Eveque De Kontum (Vietnam)                    c/o Box 507
     
     129. rue du Bac                        Nashua, N.H. 03060
     75341 Paris - Cedex 07
     
     Dear Friends,
       In  late November 1976,  at Kontum,  I finished the text of this 
     booklet,  intended  only  for  you  and not to  be  found  in  any 
     bookshop.
       No one at that time was unaware of how black the outlook was for 
     South  Vietnam.   For  thirty years we had been plunged into  war, 
     danger,  destruction  and misery of all kinds.   Although we  were 
     deeply  distressed,  no one then would have dared to predict  that 
     four  months  later  it would all be over for that  heroic  little 
     nation, finally submerged by triumphant communism.
       Everything  happened  as in a nightmare;  the crumbling  of  the 
     
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     Volume  5, Number  6                                 June 10, 1991

     South was murderous, immense and brutal.  Nightmares pass with the 
     night  and with the new day comes reassurance,  but this nightmare 
     continues  for the present generation without any apparent hope of 
     it ever coming to an end.
       The Montagnards,  like the others,  foundered in the storm.   So 
     another  tragic  turning in their history opens before  them.   We 
     know what they are losing; we cannot tell when, nor how, they will 
     come out of it.
       What  they are losing is what forms the very substance of  these 
     pages  which you have leafed through;  it is this song of hope and 
     love  which  showed  them  advancing towards a  fuller  being  and 
     greater humanity.  What remains of it today, as I write these last 
     lines in the form of an epilogue?
       The  towns of Ban Me Thout,  Plei-Ku and Kontum,  in the central 
     Highlands, were the first to be "liberated"; Kontum on March 18th, 
     1975.  One week later, Dr.  Edric Baker and Dr.  Christian who had 
     remained  at their posts in Minh-Quy hospital,  were arrested  and 
     interned  in  a forest camp.   The nursing nuns were submitted  to 
     "psychological  torture"  by incessant,  insidious interrogations.  
     One  of them was imprisoned and put into solitary confinement  and 
     finally the hospital was ransacked and looted.
       All  the educational and social efforts for the Montagnard race, 
     from the kindergarten to the university students' hostel in Saigon 
     (which was in the course of being established),  right through the 
     primary,  secondary  and  technical schools -  all were closed  or 
     plundered.
       The refugees,  having fled from communism during the past years, 
     were  categorised as "enemies of the people"  and treated as such. 
     Twenty  thousand of them were obliged to return -  on foot in  the 
     majority  of  cases -  to their old villages long ago  reduced  to 
     ashes.   Once  more abandoning everything,  and with only a simple 
     basket on their backs, they left for the hard labour of rebuilding 
     or  the  communal rice fields.  Under-nourished,  without  medical 
     care,  rediscovering  with shock the cold of a higher altitude  at 
     the start of the rainy season, they were ravaged by death; we know 
     of "villages" where the death rate rose to 30 and 60%.
       As  for the foreign nuns and missionaries,  we were quickly  put 
     under  house arrest in Kontum;  we were no longer able to come and 
     go  freely within the diocese and therefore unable to practise our 
     ministry.
       Not  content  with reducing us in this way to a helpless  state, 
     the  new Masters sought to discredit us:   accused of  spying,  of 
     political aims,  of treason,  and liable therefore for the penalty 
     of death, we were expelled: bishop, missionaries,  nuns,  doctors; 
     We  were  all expelled almost in secret.   Our expulsion was  owed 
     only to "the clemency of the people".
       However, a Vietnamese bishop and sixty-five priests have already 
     taken over from us.  Thus, the curtain falls at the end of one act 
     and  rises  on another.   "God writes straight on crooked  lines", 
     says a Portuguese proverb; His ways are mysterious.
       Just  as we set off at the Call of the Master at the time of our 
     youth  for the most beautiful adventure that it is given to man to 
     experience,  so  today  we  are ready to journey through  a  night 
     without stars...  With heavy heart certainly, but without despair, 
     in  hope against hope that nothing is lost,  that one day known to 
     God, the star will shine again.
       The  essential thing is that which we have planted in the  heart 
     of  these men:  the knowledge of the God of Love.   That will  not 
     perish.
     
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     Volume  5, Number  6                                 June 10, 1991

       Abide  with us in this hope,  praying as brothers who care,  for 
     all those of the crucified Churches.
       Our  friendship  and our gratitude to each and every one of  you 
     remains deep in our hearts.
     
       In the name of all the Montagnards
         and of their missionaries,
     
       P. Seitz
       Bishop of Kontum
         Vietnam
     
                                             Roma,  1st. October 1975
     
     
     I hope you've enjoyed this little bit of history that sorta fell
     my way...
     









































     NAM VET Newsletter                                         Page 66
     Volume  5, Number  6                                 June 10, 1991



     ==================================================================
                                  In-Touch
     ==================================================================

                           It's Not Finished Yet
                               By: Ed Henry
                 From: Among Friends - a FVVM Publication
     
        In  October (1989)  I began a new endeavor with The Friends  of 
     the  Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington,  D.C.   For the past 
     year  the  organization  has manned an assistance booth  near  the 
     Memorial.   Bob Evans,  a founding member of VVA Chapter 227,  has 
     established   himself  at  the  booth  and  he's  been  doing   an 
     outstanding  job  of meeting the public,  answering the myriad  of 
     questions surrounding the Wall - and the war.
        Bob  and  I have worked on many Vietnam-related projects so  he 
     asked  me  to come down to the Memorial grounds and help him  out.  
     For those of you who have the privilege of knowing Bob, and I know 
     there are many out there,  you know what kind of sensitive bearing 
     he can bring to this solemn place.  Bob will let you know right up 
     front  about how he feel about the Vietnam war and what it did  to 
     him and his brother and sister vets.   He bears the scars of it on 
     his  face,  and in his heart.  He nearly died in the A Shau Valley 
     when an NVA bullet ripped through his lower jaw.
        His story really begins after that horrendous incident,  and he 
     has shared it widely with high school and university audiences and 
     he shares it now with the multitudes of visitors at the wall.   He 
     never  preaches,  he  doesn't proselytize.   He only answers  when 
     asked  about  the  events that have shaped his live as  a  Vietnam 
     veteran.   He  is  especially  good with the  younger  generation.  
     Always patient, he expresses a special need to assist the families 
     and  loved  ones  of those who are now memorialized on  the  black 
     facade.
        One  particularly  beautiful October day I was with Bob at  the 
     booth  near  the  Lincoln Memorial and that day  the  crowds  were 
     fairly heavy.   The site is near the TourMobile stop and it can be 
     an   interesting   day  spent  just  watching  all   the   various 
     nationalities and tourists go by.
        The kids come noisily with not much understanding of the events 
     surrounding  this  monument.   The foreigners approach it with  an 
     interested  curiosity.   The  families of the men and women  whose 
     names  are  on  the  Wall approach it  with  great  solemnity  and 
     silence.   They  also come with anger and bitterness harbored  too 
     long.   They  come with questions that have tugged at their  lives 
     since  the  day  they got the news that someone was no  longer  in 
     their lives.   On this day,  Bob and I were standing there talking 
     about  nothing  in  particular  when three or  four  women  strode 
     abruptly up to our table and practically yelled "It isn't finished 
     yet!" in our faces.
        Bob  and I just looked at each other and then we looked at  the 
     women.  They were about my mother's age, and I felt like a son who 
     had  just  gone a bit too far with the amount of cookies he'd  had 
     that  afternoon.   Bob  spoke  first with the ever  brilliant  and 
     diplomatic  "May  I  help you?"   I chimed in  with  something  as 
     equally brilliant:  "Excuse me, but what did you say?"
        She said "It isn't finished yet.  It's just not done.   I don't 
     like  it.   It needs something more -  a flag or something.   Just 
     something  to  make  it not look so plain.   The  names  are  just 
     startling, and stark.   What do you think about it?   Do you agree 
     
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     Volume  5, Number  6                                 June 10, 1991

     with me?"
        After  one great big pregnant pause I decided to break the  ice 
     with introductions all around.   Her name was Marie Nissen and she 
     and her friends were visiting from Waterloo,  Iowa.   She asked if 
     we  were Vietnam veterans and we nodded our heads.   We don't wear 
     fatigues  down there.   We don't promote the fact that we are vets 
     and that in and of itself has a calming effect on the public.
        Bob immediately dove right in with an explanation of the design 
     of the Memorial; how Maya Lin wanted the names above anything else 
     to be the focus of her design.   Both of us talked at length about 
     what the Memorial meant to us as vets,  and what it means to other 
     vets  and  the thousands of families who have been touched by  the 
     war.
        Mrs. Nissen's persistence continued.  She probed and questioned 
     us  about  this  and that and how we felt about the  war  and  its 
     aftermath.   We  soon  found  ourselves embroiled in a  45  minute 
     historical-psychological-political  discussion  that involved  the 
     geo-politics  of twenty or thirty nations.   In the end she  said, 
     "Yes.  But it's not finished YET!"
        Bob and I laughed.  The women from Waterloo laughed.  It dawned 
     on  me  that this provocation was taking on a profound  magnitude.  
     The lady from Waterloo taught me a lesson that day.  While she and 
     Bob talked, and I thought about it,  her every word was correct in 
     the concept.   I finally said,  "You're right.   You're brilliant.  
     In  your  one little statement you've summed up the whole  of  the 
     situation.    This  Memorial  isn't  finished  and  may  never  be 
     finished.   The war isn't finished and that may never be finished, 
     either.  The aftermath isn't finished yet.  We veterans of the war 
     aren't  finished yet in what we have to do with ourselves and  the 
     rest  of  the  population that's been affected  by  the  war.   In 
     summation,  Mrs.  Nissen,  nothing was finished from this thing we 
     called  the  Vietnam  War and discussions about it may  never  get 
     finished.   As  a matter of fact,  Mrs.  Nissen,  because of  your 
     discussion,  I'm off to write an article about all this unfinished 
     business  we  have  on our hands as Vietnam  veterans.   And  when 
     people  tell  me to go away as a Vietnam veteran and stop  talking 
     about  the war and its aftermath,  I'll mention your name and tell 
     them that a woman from Iowa told me it wasn't finished yet!"
        Bob just nodded in agreement and embarrassment, being the saint 
     that he is.  I felt like giving Mrs.  Nissen and her friends a big 
     hug.    I   felt  renewed  and  enlightened  through  this  simple 
     conversation  with the visiting heartlanders.   I thank you,  Mrs. 
     Nissen, for the lesson you taught me that day.   My own process of 
     daily insight isn't finished either.  God bless you, Mrs.  Nissen, 
     and  all  the rest of your generation.   We have so much to  learn 
     from  people like you,  if we would only take the time to listen - 
     closely.  As a Vietnam veteran,  I have a long road ahead of me in 
     trying to finish this thing.
     










     NAM VET Newsletter                                         Page 68
     Volume  5, Number  6                                 June 10, 1991

                         In-Touch.  What is it ???
     
                       Input by: Ray "Frenchy" Moreau
                      NAM VETs IN-TOUCH Section Editor
                     Herndon Byte eXchange - Herndon, VA
                               (703) 471-8010
     =================================================================
     
     |+++++++++++++++++++++++++ IN TOUCH ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++|
     |  There are some 43 million people in the United States whose  |
     |  lives were directly and irrevocably touched by the Vietnam   |
     |  War.                                                         |
     |                                                               |
     |  Almost four million people served in Vietnam -- the longest, |
     |  and perhaps most difficult, war in our history.  More than a |
     |  quarter of a million were seriously wounded. 58,175 are dead |
     |  or missing.                                                  |
     |                                                               |
     |  Each of those who returned recognizes the true cost of war.  |
     |  But so too do the families and friends, wives and lovers of  |
     |  those listed on the Wall.  They too paid a tremendous price, |
     |  not always recognized... many still do.                      |
     |                                                               |
     |  Though twenty years have passed, it seems that is the period |
     |  people have needed to get the distance necessary to begin to |
     |  address the unresolved, deeply personal issues that have     |
     |  been haunting them since the war.  Perhaps that is a measure |
     |  of the pain.                                                 |
     |                                                               |
     |  But, the "healing of a nation" that was intended by the      |
     |  building of the Memorial, has begun.                         |
     |                                                               |
     |  In the office of the Friends of the Vietnam Veterans         |
     |  Memorial, we hear them on the other end of the phone on      |
     |  any given day, and far into the night, they call from all    |
     |  corners of the country.                                      |
     |                                                               |
     |  "If only I could find out..."                                |
     |  "I need to find his family so I can keep my promise..."      |
     |  "I just want to talk to someone who was with him... "        |
     |  "Please, can you help...?"                                   |
     |                                                               |
     |  At the Wall, we find them every day. Veterans who have not   |
     |  spoken of their experiences even to their most intimate      |
     |  family members are now beginning, tentatively, to seek a     |
     |  responsive ear.                                              |
     |                                                               |
     |  Brothers and sisters, parents and even wives who were simply |
     |  never allowed full expression of their grief because of the  |
     |  fierce pressures of the time, are now coming forward,        |
     |  looking for someone who can help with their healing.         |
     |                                                               |
     |  We hear from children, now 15 - 25 years old, who are        |
     |  searching for bits and pieces of information they can        |
     |  assemble to help fill that empty place in their lives that   |
     |  is the father they never knew well, if at all. And they want |
     |  to talk to each other, to share their special needs and the  |
     |  unique experience of growing up with a father on the Wall.   |
     |  They understand each other all too well.                     |
     
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     Volume  5, Number  6                                 June 10, 1991

     |                                                               |
     |  Millions of Americans need to meet and talk because of the   |
     |  Wall, and only the Friends can help them.                    |
     |                                                               |
     |  Initial discussions with many other national organizations   |
     |  whose work brings them into contact with Vietnam veterans    |
     |  and their loved ones have attested to the need for IN TOUCH  |
     |  and their willingness to help.                               |
     |                                                               |
     |  Simply put, the Friends will draw on its special work at the |
     |  Memorial,  its acquired and available data bases and         |
     |  programs designed and integrated by Electronic Data Systems  |
     |  (EDS), and the commitment and concern of its volunteers to   |
     |  place people with a common association to a name on the Wall |
     |  to be in voluntary communication with each other.            |
     |                                                               |
     |  From there, we will let human nature take its good course.   |
     |  And let the healing begin.                                   |
     |                                                               |
     |  The starting point for the data base will be the more than   |
     |  twenty thousand names of people who have requested name      |
     |  rubbings from our volunteers in Washington. Each will be     |
     |  contacted and given the opportunity to participate by being  |
     |  listed in the IN TOUCH central data base file.               |
     |                                                               |
     |  Confidentiality is the keyword to cooperation and IN TOUCH   |
     |  will respect the integrity of all lists and records.  Lists  |
     |  will be unavailable for public use and will not be           |
     |  distributed for any commercial purpose.                      |
     |                                                               |
     |  By its nature, IN TOUCH must reach far beyond the veterans   |
     |  community in order to be successful. With professional       |
     |  guidance, the Friends will develop a program of on-going     |
     |  articles and other coverage in major media markets, high-    |
     |  lighting the personal experiences of people as they are put  |
     |  "in touch."  The International Vietnam Veterans Echo         |
     |  Conference via the Herndon Byte eXchange 1:109/316 node as   |
     |  the enter point for gathering and disseminating information  |
     |  will be used.  Aside from bringing the program  into public  |
     |  awareness, these articles and stories will serve as a val-   |
     |  uable tool for public education on a wealth of matters       |
     |  relating to the Vietnam era.                                 |
     |                                                               |
     |  As a preliminary test of the IN TOUCH project, the Friends   |
     |  has implemented a pilot project to test the design and       |
     |  demands of such a program.  Several hundred requests with    |
     |  full background information have been entered into a system  |
     |  designed to match requestor data with the existing Memorial  |
     |  data. Even with such a small sample, limited data and a      |
     |  fairly unsophisticated cross-indexing system, matches have   |
     |  been made and IN TOUCH has produced its first real           |
     |  connections.  The results have been as profoundly moving for |
     |  the participants as expected. And as gratifying for the      |
     |  Friends.                                                     |
     |                                                               |
     |  But it was clear that the information management system and  |
     |  the supporting hardware system would have to be more power-  |
     |  ful and more complex in order to handle thousands, perhaps   |
     |  hundreds of thousands, of requests.  Confidentiality of the  |
     
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     Volume  5, Number  6                                 June 10, 1991

     |  system and information must be paramount.                    |
     |                                                               |
     |  With well over 2,000 Vietnam veterans, Electronic Data       |
     |  Systems (EDS) became involved and has been generous in its   |
     |  assistance with designing the data management systems which  |
     |  will be critical to a successful program.  The Friends have  |
     |  reached a three-year working agreement with EDS which        |
     |  promises continuity and maximum potential for success in     |
     |  building an information bank that can truly help people in   |
     |  their search for others who knew a loved one.                |
     |                                                               |
     |  The Friends are delighted that Bob Hope has agreed to make   |
     |  a public service announcement which we can use on radio and  |
     |  television to help get the word out to the public on the     |
     |  availability of the service.                                 |
     |                                                               |
     |  The Friends are also pleased to note that Hewlett Packard,   |
     |  Zenith Data Systems, Borland International, FASTCOMM         |
     |  Communications Corporation and the First National Bank of    |
     |  Chicago have all contributed computer equipment, computer    |
     |  software, and office equipment to the project, so they are   |
     |  beginning to feel fully functional.                          |
     |                                                               |
     |  The Friends hear from people who have long been living with  |
     |  the pain of loss and looking for a way to heal.  For         |
     |  instance, the Friends recently received a letter from a      |
     |  woman who wrote:                                             |
     |                                                               |
     |       Dear Friends:                                           | 
     |           For quite some time I have been searching for a     |
     |       way to know my brother.  It seems hopeless at times.    |
     |       I was 12 when he was killed...  I had waited for the    |
     |       day he would come back to us.  He never did.  A part    |
     |       of me will always be 12 and continue to wait.           |
     |           Thank you for giving me hope that there may be      |
     |       a way to find him and bring him home to my heart..."    |
     |                                                               |
     |                          +   +   +                            |
     |                                                               |
     |           The Friends of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial        |
     |                     Electronic Data Systems                   |
     |           Herndon Byte eXchange TCOMMnet BBS 1:109/316        |
     |                                                               |        
     |+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++|
     














     NAM VET Newsletter                                         Page 71
     Volume  5, Number  6                                 June 10, 1991

                    IN-TOUCH Registration/Request Form
     
                       Input by: Ray "Frenchy" Moreau
                      NAM VETs IN-TOUCH Section Editor
                     Herndon Byte eXchange - Herndon, VA
                               (703) 471-8010
     
         THIS FORM REQUIRES SIGNATURE FOR CONFIDENTIALITY RELEASE 
                             PLEASE READ BELOW
     ------------------------------------------------------------------
     I wish to be IN TOUCH with (Please circle and/or comment) Family, 
     Friends and/or Fellow Veterans of the following: 
     __________________________________________________________________
     __________________________________________________________________
     
     ----------- PERSON WHO DID NOT COME BACK FROM VIETNAM ------------
     
     First Name_____________ Middle Name___________ Last Name__________
     Relationship to You and/or Reason for Request 
     (Answer as fully as possible)_____________________________________
     __________________________________________________________________
     
     ==================================================================
     
     -------- ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT HIM/HER - IF KNOWN ---------
     
     Rank_______ Birth Date ______________ Soc. Sec. # ________________
     Tour Date of Birth _______________ Where Buried __________________
     Branch of Service:  AR__   NA__    AF__   MC__  CG__  RC__   CIV__
     (Fill in his/her equivalent unit designations in the spaces below)
     Division ____________ Brigade ___________ Battalion ______________
     Regiment ____________ Company ___________ Ship ___________________
     Battles:__________________________________________________________
     Locations:________________________________________________________
     Nicknames:________________________________________________________
     Hometown (while in Nam): ____________________ Home State: ________
     
     ==================================================================
     
     ---------------------- INFORMATION ABOUT YOU ---------------------
     Title___  First Name ____________ Middle/Maiden Name _____________
     Last Name ____________________
     Address___________________________________________________________
     City __________________________________ State ____ Zip: _____-____
     Your Home Phone (   ) ____________  Work Phone: (   ) ____________
     
     ---------------- IF YOU ARE A VIETNAM-ERA VETERAN ----------------
     
     Tour date _______________________________  Rank __________________
     Branch of Service: AR__  NA __  AF __  MC __  CG __  RC __  CIV __
          Fill in your equivalent unit designations in the spaces below
     Division: __________  Brigade: ___________  Battalion: ___________
     Regiment: __________  Company: ___________  Ship: ________________
     Battles: _________________________________________________________
     Locations: _______________________________________________________
     Nicknames: _______________________________________________________
     Hometown (when in VN) _______________________ Home State: ________
     Comments: ________________________________________________________
     
     
     NAM VET Newsletter                                         Page 72
     Volume  5, Number  6                                 June 10, 1991

                             CONFIDENTIALITY STATEMENT
     _____  I give permission to the Friends of the Vietnam Veterans 
            Memorial to release my name, address, phone number and 
            relationship to other participants in the IN TOUCH project 
            seeking information on the individual above (strike out 
            phone number if you do not want it released).
                                    OR
     
     _____  I would like to have the names, addresses, and phone 
            numbers of persons who knew my friend or relative, but 
            prefer NOT to have my name, address, and phone number 
            released.
     
     I hereby release the Friends of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial from 
     any and all liability that may arise from the operation of the IN 
     TOUCH project.
     
     Signature ____________________________________ Date _____________
     
     NOTE: Do not electronically transmit this form, instead mail to:
           Friends of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial
           1350 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Suite 300
           Washington, DC 20036
     -----------------------------------------------------------------
     


































     NAM VET Newsletter                                         Page 73
     Volume  5, Number  6                                 June 10, 1991



     ==================================================================
                              The NamVet Chapel
     ==================================================================

                           Tears for All Mothers
                             Robert D Amundson
                       Las Cruces Sun News, 3 Mar 91
                          Input by: Charlie Revie
                    Desert Dolphin BBS - Las Cruces, NM
                              (505) 523-2811
     
     As I was sitting in the Phoenix airport awaiting my connection for 
     Washington, DC,  my head buried in a magazine,  reading an article 
     updating  me  on the Middle East,  out of the corner of my  eye  I 
     noticed  the  shine of patent leather.   As I slowly glanced up  a 
     sharp  young  man  in an Air Force Combo 1 dress  uniform,  and  a 
     master of 35-10 (dress code),  was approaching the airline gate as 
     if  on a mission.   Before he could  take another step,  two young 
     boys  that  I  last  noticed watching airplanes   at  the  window, 
     challenged  the  soldier  and made him stop as if  he  heard   the 
     command: "Company Halt."
     
     As  the  Airman  looked down at the boys he then  knelt  to  their 
     level.  The boys with their eyes running wild,  started to ask the 
     young  man questions.   "Why do you wear a uniform?"   The  Airman 
     honorably replied,  "Because I am in the United States Air Force."  
     The  next  question  came as fast as the first one  was  answered.  
     "Are you going to Saudi Arabia?"
     
     "Yes."
     
     "When are you going?"
     
     "Soon."
     
     Then the smallest of the two boys asked the Airman with excitement 
     in  his voice,  "Do you have dog tags?"   The Airman proceeded  to 
     loosen his tie and unbutton his shirt,  and found the chain around 
     his neck and proudly pulled them out.   He then started to explain 
     the hammered out etchings on the tags, but before he could finish, 
     the same youngster asked,  pointing  his small finger at the tags, 
     "If you die in the war, who gets your  dog tags?"
     
     The young Airman, stunned by the question,  paused for an instant.  
     He then replied as if dreaming of that moment,  "I want them given 
     to  my mother."   As I looked up,  the boy's mother,  now standing 
     behind  her son,  had tears running down her cheeks.   The Airman, 
     now  aware  of  her,  stood up.   I sensed a feeling for  just  an 
     instant when he looked into her eyes, that she was the mother that 
     provided  him life into this uncertain world.   She then  extended 
     out  her  arms  and  the young man obeyed her  command  and  moved 
     forward  to embrace this stranger.  She then reached down for  her 
     son's hands and began to slowly walk away,  turning her head,  she 
     said, "God bless you and God Bless America."
     
     As I looked around I could recognize both the stares and the tears 
     of the people who were guilty of eavesdropping, I too, was guilty.  
     These were truly the Tears for All Mothers.
     
     
     NAM VET Newsletter                                         Page 74
     Volume  5, Number  6                                 June 10, 1991

                             ============
     
     Robert Amundson is a resident of Las Cruces,  works as an engineer 
     and technical writer,  and does some creative writing in his spare 
     time.  He is a peacetime veteran of the US Air Force.
     
                             ============
     I don't get moist eyed too often, but this one did it for sure.  I 
     just thought maybe some of the rest of us would like sharing these 
     words and feelings......
     
                                  Charlie
     














































     NAM VET Newsletter                                         Page 75
     Volume  5, Number  6                                 June 10, 1991

                            I
                            I
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                            I
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                        T I   I T                           88888888
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                   II I           I II             o88 888) (888)
                  II  I    IIII   I  II         o88  88888888 8888)
                 XII  I  II   II  I  IIX       (88      8 88 888888)
                XIII  III       III  IIIX      (8 8 8 88 88 88 8 888)
               XIIII  I           I  IIIIX      (88 8  8  8 88888888)
              II  II  I  xIIIIIx  I  II  II     ( 8 88     888 88888)
                  II  I  T  T  T  I  II        (8888 88 8 8 8888888)
                  II  I  I  I  I  I  II         (8 88888 888 88 88)
                  II  I  I  I  I  I  II          (8888)888 88888)
                  II  I  I II II  I  II            (8) (I8I8I) 8
       oo8888888o II  I  I  I  I  I  II                 IIIII        X
      8888888 888BII  I  I  I  I  I  IIXX                III      X XX
       88 88 88  BII  I  TIIIIIT  I  IIXXX               III     XXXXX
      888888   88BII  I    ....   I  IIXXXXXX            III    XXgXXX
     888 888888888XXXXXII    ...   IIXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX        XXXXXXjXX
                         II    ..    IIXXXXXXXXXXXXXX         XXXXXXpX
      The Vietnam Veteran XII          IIXXXXXXXXXXXXX         XXXXXXX
       has relatives in the  III        IIIXXXXXXXXXXXX         XXXXXX
       Old and New Testaments   III        IIIXXXXXXXXXX         XXXXX
       who also experienced loss   II         IIXXXXXXXXX          XXX
       and grief, guilt and shame,   II         IIXXXXXXXXX         XX
       rejection and betrayal,         I          IXXXXXXXXX
       alienation and estrangement,    I          IXXXX  XX
       isolation and withdrawal.        II          IIXXXX
                                          II          IIX
      Adam and Eve tried to hide from God; II          II
      Moses, born Hebrew and raised Egyptian IIII        IIII
       searched long and hard for his real self; II          II
      Job, losing his children and all he owned,   II          II
       became sorely diseased;                       IIII        III
      Biblical Joseph was rejected by his brothers,      II         II
       lied about and imprisoned;                          I
      Peter denied Jesus.                                    II
                                                                I
      "And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age"
                           Matthew 28:20
     
     NAM VET Newsletter                                         Page 76
     Volume  5, Number  6                                 June 10, 1991

                   Memory Of Vietnam Will Never Go Away
                          By Marvin P. Schelhouse
                        Delaware State News 3/17/91
                         Submitted by: Chick Curry
                        VETLink #1 - Pittsfield, MA
                              (413) 443-6313
     
     [DELAWARE  STATE NEWS EDITOR'S NOTE:   Marvin P.  Schelhouse is  a 
     Milford  resident  who served 20 years in the Marine Corps  before 
     retiring in 1976.  He now works for the Department of Labor and is 
     a member of the Milford School Board.]
     
       Most of us have watched with gratification the welcoming home of 
     our troops from the Persian Gulf.  I commend our President and our 
     military  forces  for  the  success  of  this  operation  and  the 
     restoration  of Kuwait to its people.   We have not witnessed  the 
     support  and  backing  of our military by the  citizenry  of  this 
     country since World War II.
       The  past several weeks have given me time to reflect back to an 
     era when patriotism and flag waving was not the "in thing"  to do.  
     It  was during this time that a multitude of American heroes  went 
     unnoticed.   Of course,  I speak of the Vietnam War -  a time when 
     this  country  was  torn  from  within over  whether  or  not  our 
     involvement was right or just.
       In  Vietnam,  there  was an American Indian in my  outfit  whose 
     ancestors  had been herded together and placed on a reservation to 
     live  out  their lives.   He gave up a well deserved R &  R  leave 
     (rest  and recuperation)  to let a buddy,  a caucasian,  go in his 
     place.  A few days later on an operation he was killed fighting to 
     protect the rights of a people he knew little about.  He only knew 
     that  an aggressor from the North had invaded the South to inflict 
     the  power and will on the way of life of those that were  opposed 
     to this form of oppression.
       I  recall  another valiant young man that probably didn't  weigh 
     over  100  pounds.   He  made  up for his  small  stature  by  his 
     indomitable  course.   On  patrol,  he always wanted to be out  in 
     front.   I  don't believe jungle boots were made small enough  for 
     his  feet.   At  least they were not to be found in  Vietnam.   He 
     stuffed  rags  into  the toes of his boots,  but they  were  still 
     uncomfortable.   His  hopes of finding a comfortable pair of boots 
     ended the day he stepped on a land mine and lost both legs.
       I remember bringing the unpleasant news to a mother that her son 
     had been killed.   He had only two weeks remaining to serve on his 
     tour in Vietnam.   She had a dream the night before that something 
     terrible  had happened to him.   I felt so helpless standing there 
     trying  to  comfort her.   I saw in her eyes a loving  and  caring 
     person  and  felt her son must have displayed some of  those  same 
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