Readers for Veterans Memorial Event
* I was lucky that I didn’t lose any family members, fraternity brothers or longtime friends in Vietnam. But I did lose comrades: new buddies, fellow pilots. My helicopter flight class of 260 officers was whittled down to 150 by the end of 1968.
Come forward in time from that hot, humid jungle and that wretched conflict to oak-studded savannas, rolling hills and mountains of our beloved Conejo Valley.
The Traveling Wall--a portable half-size replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.--will return to Ventura County this weekend. It is a moving wall in more ways than simply the physical. The wall will be on display from Thursday through Monday at Pierce Brothers Valley Oaks Memorial Park.
Regardless of views that you may have about the Vietnam War, it is now part of our nation’s history, our legacy. Acknowledging that legacy, we will read aloud the names of all the men and women listed on that black mirror of loss: 58,219 Americans killed or missing. They are not forgotten. Their loss is not only to their families but to all of us.
We need volunteers to contribute 15 minutes of their time to help read the names aloud, beginning at 7 p.m. Saturday and finishing at 8 p.m. Sunday. Call 495-0837 to sign up.
Each of you is needed to read their names. I don’t ask it--they ask it.
FORREST FRIELDS
Thousand Oaks
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