Bob from the mosquito Capitol of the the US sends us this touching reminder of just what Our Wall doesn’t say. Perhaps I say that selfishly, but it is my touchstone for those who served with me, those I knew and lost, and a period of American history that provoked so much dissention between its citizens and soldiers. 

Bob Worley, Chuck Engle, Park Bunker-the list goes on. Some are not listed yet. History is dynamic with respect to the Vietnam Boundary Dispute. At 58, 272 souls, I doubt the last name has yet been chiseled in. I would add that the names of the fallen Air America pilots and employees who often rescued us deserve to be there too.

With that said consider this:

The names are arranged in the order in which they were taken from us by date and within each date the names are alphabetized. It is hard to believe it is 36 years since the last casualties.

The first known casualty was Richard B. Fitzgibbon, of North Weymouth , Mass. Listed by the U.S. Department of Defense as having been killed on June 8, 1956. His name is listed on the Wall with that of his son, Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Richard B. Fitzgibbon III, who was killed on Sept. 7, 1965. 

39,996 on the Wall were just 22 or younger.

8,283 were just 19 years old.

The largest age group, 33,103 were 18 years old.

12 soldiers on the Wall were 17 years old.

5 soldiers on the Wall were 16 years old.

One soldier, PFC Dan Bullock was 15 years old.

997 soldiers were killed on their first day in Vietnam ..

1,448 soldiers were killed on their last scheduled day in Vietnam.

31 sets of brothers are on the Wall.

 Thirty one sets of parents lost two of their sons.

54 soldiers attended Thomas Edison High School in Philadelphia . I wonder why so many from one school.

8 Women are on the Wall. Nursing the wounded.

244 soldiers were awarded the Medal of Honor during the Vietnam War; 153 of them are on the Wall.

Beallsville , Ohio with a population of 475 lost 6 of her sons.

West Virginia had the highest casualty rate per capita in the nation. There are 711 West Virginians on the Wall.

  Thirty one sets of parents lost two of their sons.

8 Women are on the Wall. Nursing the wounded.

244 soldiers were awarded the Medal of Honor during the Vietnam War; 153 of them are on the Wall.

Beallsville , Ohio with a population of 475 lost 6 of her sons.

West Virginia had the highest casualty rate per capita in the nation. There are 711 West Virginians on the Wall.

The most casualty deaths for a single day was on January 31, 1968 ~ 245 deaths.

The most casualty deaths for a single month was May 1968 – 2,415 casualties were incurred.

For most Americans who read this they will only see the numbers that the Vietnam War created. To those of us who survived the war, and to the families of those who did not, we see the faces, we feel the pain that these numbers created. We are, until we too pass away, haunted with these numbers, because they were our friends, fathers, husbands, wives, sons and daughters. There are no noble wars, just noble warriors.

It is said that wars are noble endeavours. Most I have studied were provoked by religion or pure political avarice. Vietnam was considered a “civil war” inasmuch as it was an effort by the north to reign in the south and return it to the fold. Vietnam was the first time that America did not win the Gold medal and take first place. That would have been an acceptable outcome for many of us had we not received such shabby treatment and social opprobrium when we returned.