The Vietnam Veterans Memorial | Teen Ink

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial

June 21, 2011
By GymClassHeroes SILVER, Weston, Massachusetts
GymClassHeroes SILVER, Weston, Massachusetts
6 articles 0 photos 1 comment

Favorite Quote:
"If you live to be 100, I hope I live to 100 minus 1 day, so I never have to live without you." -Winnie the Pooh


A black wall
holding the names of thousands
who have given their lives up for
their country.
The names
are just names
right?

Further down the wall
I walk
sun beating down
heating the black marble
and my skin.
The names etched in the wall
are just names...
Aren’t they?

I walk closer
examining
there are so many names...
Why is there a wreath here?
Is that a note to someone?
Oh. I understand.

They are not just names.
They had faces and families
but they gave it up
for us.


The author's comments:
I recently visited Washington D.C. with my 8th grade class, and I was stricken especially of the simplicity of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

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