The Vietnam Memorial Wall
by Rick Brentlinger
(Pace, FL, USA)
58,272 names grace the Vietnam Wall
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we want you to know what will
happen to the believers who
have died so you will not grieve
like people who have no hope."
1 Thessalonians 4:13
They passed the rites of manhood
In Asian jungles grim;
And humped their ruck to hell and back,
Yet no one lauded them.
They stained the fetid jungles green
With brave blood rich and red;
As many a fearless soldier sat
And wept beside the dead.
And all the while they risked their lives
In freedom's worthy cause;
Protesters in the streets back home
Peace-marched and broke the laws.
They fought elusive enemies
In darkness through the night;
By day gave aid to villagers,
To ease their desperate plight.
They fought with grace and courage
In Asian jungles grim;
And yet when they came home from war,
Still, no one lauded them.
But as the years of time marched on
And war wounds slowly healed;
True patriots planned a monument
For those whom war had killed.
On solemn stone 'graved all the names,
The dead to ne'er forget;
At last his nation honors him,
Our valiant Vietnam vet.
And on a bright and sunny day
Along a wall of black;
The living come to mourn the dead
And choke their teardrops back.
"For since we believe that Jesus died
and was raised to life again, we also
believe that when Jesus returns,
God will bring back with him
the believers who have died."
1 Thessalonians 4:14, NLT
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Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall,
honors 58,272 heroes by name,
Washington D.C., photo 2 by Lorax,
courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
