not long ago i went to the wall to see some of our great men who gave their lives for their country.many were friends id met prior to the war,most were friends i had during the war and i found a few id met during my stay in the va and rehab progrms.as i walked along the wall and said my piece and remenised about their lives as id known them my eyes fell across a name i recognized from so long ago ,heather b
well i suddenly froze,surely this was not the heather id know so many years ago.the heather i remembered was a petite blonde every guy fell in love with at first glance.the perfect student,popular,cheerleader and prude.id dated her on and off for several years since the 7 grade.well a i cleared my memories of her from my head i finally thought,wow,someone had the same name.i left it at that and finished my pilgramage.
today,out of the blue,i rn into the heather i remembereds brother.we joked and he talked about things hed heard about me and so on.well i couldnt wait to tell him about the girls name id seen on the wall.
i was laughing as i told him the story and how i remembered his sister.finally i asked 'so did she marry some big shot?'again i laughed but when he didnt reply i looked and saw tears streaming down his face.
he told me how lil ms.pris had joined the usmc a year after graduation and was a communication specialist.to top it off,she was in the same batalion i was originally from till i moved to special forces.he continued to tell me of her journey as a heavy feeling filled my guts.
it turned out she was only a few kilometers from me her whole time there.it also come to lite that on the last firefight we had before my transfer she had been killed when evacuating the medivac post.
she had unselfishly left her safe haden in communications to get our wounded to safety and in doing so gave her own life so that others could live.
we talked a little more before we parted.then he left and i went back to the motel room.once there i got out my medals and for the first time i felt disgust and hatred for everything id been through becouse i was still here and a sweet,beautiful woman was dead.
since that time my uniform has lost a few of its ribbons and awards.they sit in a glass case at our high school with the name heather b.our class hero on a small plaque in the school trophy case.
every day i check for new names on the listing at the dav.since that time,ive found 3 more of my friends.
yes,i do feel guilt and loss for every name on that wall,but now i think more of the women who serve as well as our men.times are desperate and now even our women answer the call as much as the men.its a call i hope will never be used again.i salute all those who serve,men and women.and i feel a loss for each of our heros.
renegadelvr
usmc,ret.
plz,everyone,bow your heads and give thanks,then look at our red ,white,and blue with pride
