“Clad in leather motorcycle gear with a colorful array of patriotic patches sewn in, a dozen members of the iconic biker club, most of them veterans, readied for an hour of washing and scrubbing the black wall…”
By Benny Johnson, IJR:
The Vietnam War Memorial is hallowed ground.
In a city of gleaming white marble monuments and pink cherry blossoms, the black, sunken facade, etched with the 58,307 names of the fallen, stands out as a haunting tribute to the sacrifice of a generation.
The memorial itself stirs emotion. When anyone, young or old, looks into the polished volcanic rock of the wall, it looks back. At it’s highest point the wall is over 10 feet tall. It envelops its visitors with names of those who lost their lives in a war which lasted nearly two decades.
It can be overwhelming to visit. For the hundreds of thousands of Vietnam veterans still alive, it is a place of eternal significance.
The wall itself is open to the public 24 hours a day 365 days a year. It is our nation’s most embraceable monument. You can touch it, rest your head against it and cry on it. No one will stop you.
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