War is a necessary aspect of our past present and future.

War is an essential part of our past present and future. This can be seen in the Vietnam Veteran’s memorial because it reflects our present, is engraved with our past and will be a reminder of what we as American’s have lost in war for many years into our future. In this photograph you can see what looks like an endless amount of names, each carved precisely into the shining black stone illuminated by the shining yellow lights. The weight of all of the names spreads far across the path which leads to the Washington Monument a symbol of our nation's first President George Washington. The connection between our nations first president, his militaristic power and the fallen soldiers of the Vietnam war is highlighted in the focal points of this piece. This monument is placed in our nation’s capital where our government has made the majority of its decisions.  This memorial additionally reminds me of the work of our guest speaker. He described his transition back to everyday life smooth because he was “fighting another war”. His second war was on the floor of congress where he advocated for the end of war in Vietnam. The location of this monument serves as a reminder of the contribution war has on our culture and our daily life. Seeing that our nation's decisions made by all three parts of our government occur in Washington D.C.  The very existence of our nation was found as we won a war for our independence and freedom from Britain. The names in this wall have a deeper meaning after we read O’brien’s the things they carried, because the names all have personal stories. They were loved and respected by their fellow soldiers. The authors conflict with how to remember the fallen is seen in his journey with his ten year old daughter back to Vietnam, when he visits the “shit field” that twenty years prior took his friend's life. “This little field, I thought has swallowed so much; My best friend; My pride; my belief in myself as a man of small dignity and courage; Still, it was hard to find any real emotion, It simply wasn’t there (O’brien 176).” In the Vietnam war along with all of the other wars the falling of soldiers is often messy unpredictable, and unjust. This memorial connects each of the soldiers that died as they were overseas fighting for their country, whether they died in direct warfare or like Kiowa in that “shit field, Curt Lemon who was joking around with Rat Kiley, or Ted Lavender who was shot in the head while taking a bathroom break. This memorial disregards the painful specifics and instead includes all of the men and women who fought and contributed to America’s efforts as whole. A constant reminder of what we have lost, what we stand for and what the future holds.

Bibliography

United States. National Park Service. (2016). Vietnam Veterans Memorial (U.S. National Park Service). Retrieved March 21, 2016, from http://www.nps.gov/vive/index.htm