959.704 Vietnam Veterans Memorial: 25 Years Old

This is Veteran's Day...a time to honor all those who have served the country...and for the rest of us to reflect on what that service has meant to us. Included on several blogs, I came across:

“A veteran - whether active duty, retired, national guard, or reserve - is someone who, at one point in his or her life, wrote a blank check made payable to The 'United States of America', for an amount of 'up to and including my
life.'” (Author unknown)

Veteran's Day books can be found at 394.26 in any library that uses Dewey.

This particular holiday is a tad more historical in that is the 25th anniversary of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. I remember all of the controversy that surrounding the idea and plans of the Memorial, but also remember the immediate acceptance of the site as a very special place. Although I have never had opportunity to visit, I can not look at pictures of or read accounts of the meetings at the Wall without feeling the emotion of the place.

Here is one of the many stories surrounding this anniversary including video of a vist to the Memorial. In the audio background of the video, you can hear the reading of the 58,000+ names listed on the Wall...a part of this anniversary ceremony. It takes 60 hours or so to read all of the names. Did you know that in the 25 years of its presence, over 100, 000 objects have been left by visitors and have carefully been collected by Park Service personnel and are in storage for a future museum.

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To read more about it:

Always to Remember: The Story of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial by Brent Ashabranner
Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam collected by the NY Memorial Commission

Their Names to Live also by Ashabranner

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial...several books by different authors with copyrights of 2000+
The Wall: Images and Offerings from the Vietnam Memorial
The War and the Wall: Service, Sacrifice and Honor

and the very sweet and moving The Wall by Eve Bunting

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There are several videos available at YouTube that will give you some information. You can find them by putting "Vietnam Veterans Memorial Washington, DC " in the search box. You'll have to watch at home! ...and kleenex close by for some.