Memorial Bracelets

Tonight, when I arrived home after work, Hannah and Jackson were literally jumping for joy in the middle of the street. "What in the world are they doing?" I thought as they continued with their ginormous hand and arm signals and over-exagerated lipsyncing, trying desperately to tell me something, "They're here! They're here! They came today!" Tracy and I began to laugh at just how excited they were... but for who? or what?

In the early stages of planning our trip to Washington D.C., we decided to involve the kids in as much of the planning as possible. We really wanted them to, in some way, make a connection with what they would soon be experiencing, before they experienced it. At about that time, I saw one of my co-workers wearing a traditional POW/MIA bracelet. "That's it!", I thought. "We can each wear a memorial bracelet in honor of an American soldier killed in the Vietnam War."

Clinging to the package that had just arrived in today's mail, Hannah and Jackson were acting as if it was Christmas morning and they were about to open their most coveted gift. Inside were six bracelets, one for each of us to wear, with the identity of an American serviceman killed in the Vietnam War. We each carefully selected one of the 58,000+ names from The Virtual Wall online. Upon our arrival at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C., we will each be able to look up our selected serviceman in the directory and then locate him, or her, on that black, granite wall. Indeed, they have already made a connection.

For years I have looked up to my cousin, Ed Paulus. As a kid my family lived with the Paulus's when we moved to California in the summer of '83. Shortly after I got out of the Marines, I worked with Ed at a southern California engineering firm where he taught me to be a land surveyor. He also accompanied me on my hiking expedition to the top of Half Dome in 2002. But perhaps what intrigued me the most about my cousin, was that he too was a Marine. Ed served in the Marines in the mid 1960's, during the early stages of the Vietnam War. Growing up, I never heard him speak of combat, or any of his experiences in Nam. But once I came home from the Marines, he opened up quite a bit. In preparing for our visit to the Vietnam War Memorial, I called Ed and asked him the names of some the men he fought beside, that can be found engraved on that black granite wall. He sent me a letter that read:

The following are a few of the men on The Wall who I served with.

* Maj. Robert M. Sweeney was my Company Commander. He died on December 31st 1965.
* 1st Lt. James M. Mitchell, Jr. was my Platoon Commander and was killed by an explosive device on August 31st 1965. Cpl. Daniel W. Duffy was killed in the same incident.
* Sgt. Lavelle M. Nobles was killed on August 11, 1965 while on patrol. He drowned trying to forge a river.
* HM2 Martin L. Gillespie was our Corpsman. He was killed on March 21st 1966 while attending to two wounded Marines. He was awarded The Navy Cross for his valor.
* 1st Lt. James Thomas Egan, Jr. was taken prisoner on January 21st 1966 while volunteering for a recon patrol. We got ambushed and he became separated. Egan was taken away and never seen again.

I hope this is of some help while visiting The Wall. Hope to see you soon.

Respectfully,

Your cousin

After reading Ed's letter I chose to honor James Egan by ordering his bracelet. It was reported that he was seen in a North Vietnamese prison camp by another prisoner. Since his capture, he was promoted to the rank of Captain. He can be found on Panel 04E Line 81.

Tracy called her dad (Ken Meunier, who graduated high school in 1966) and asked him if he knew of anyone who served in Vietnam. Of the few faces he could recall, Patrick Fitzsimmons was the one he remembered playing football with. Patrick enlisted in the Marine Corps right after high school. He can be found on Panel 20E Line 26.

In 2005, as part of a school project, Taylor wrote a letter to Richard Halpin (more than 5 years ago) thanking him for dying for her freedom. Richard was a navigator on a C-130 flying over Laos near the end of the Vietnam War. After his plane was shot down, he was reported missing and was so indicated on The Wall. Years later, with the help of DNA, his remains were identified and returned to his family. Ironically, I met his sister, Helen Halpin Conroy, through a running group in southern California. As of today, we share a special friendship in honor of her brother. Taylor chose to wear a bracelet in honor of our unique relationship with Richard Halpin. He can be found on Panel 02W Line 122.

(The following is Taylor's letter, written on Memorial Day 2005)

Dear Richard Halpin,

Thank you so much for serving in the Air Force and giving your life for our country.  You were a brave man.  Because of people like you my family lives in freedom.  I can go to a wonderful church and school.  My dad knows your family and introduced me to your sister Helen.  She is a great woman.  You were lucky to have a sister like her.  My family and I got to go and see the Traveling Wall which has the names of all the people who died in the Vietnam War.  I remember touching your name.  It made me feel very thankful for what you have done for our country, but sad that you died.  I wish I could have known you.  Whenever I see a picture of you, I wonder what you would be like right now.  I wonder how it would have been for you to come home.  I got to talk to your sister Helen on the phone.  I asked her a lot of questions.  She said that she misses you and your personality.  She said that you were her role model.  She also said that she wishes you could play baseball with her children, and see the ocean with them.  Your sister told me that you died the day before you were supposed to come home.  I couldn’t believe my ears!  She said that your family made cookies, cakes, and posters that said “Welcome Home.”  I’m sorry you didn’t get to come home and see your wonderful family, but I know you will get to see them again someday.

Sincerely,

Taylor Schultz

While looking through the thousands of names on the Virtual Wall, Aubrey asked me, "How many women's names are on The Wall?" We were both quite shocked to learn the answer is eight; of the 58,000+ Americans killed in Vietnam, only eight were women. Aubrey immediately explained to me that she thought she would relate more to one of the women on The Wall and sought out Mary Klinker. As an Air Force nurse, Capt. Klinker was a part of 'Operation Baby Lift'. With the war coming to an end, the United States made the desparate decision to conduct a mass evacuation of the war orphans in South Vietnam. On April 4, 1975 a C-5 cargo plane with more than 300 Vietnamese orphans, attended to by Capt. Klinker, crashed just twelve minutes after take-off, killing 153 of the 328 on board. She can be found on Panel 01W Line 122.

After watching We Were Soldiers as a family, and taking many opportunities to explain in limited detail while pausing (or fast-forwarding) the movie, Hannah grew very fond of John 'Jack' Geoghegan [Gee-gan]. As a young Lieutenant, Jack was the very proud, very new, father to his baby daughter, Camile. But Jack was killed while rescuing his wounded comrade in the Ia Drang Valley. He can be found on Panel 03E Line 56.

(Since the start of this project, we have contacted Camile Geoghegan, Jack's daughter, on-line. She is very kind and very supportive of Hannah's efforts.)

So when we asked Jack who he would like to commemorate, he asked in a very inquisitive, 9-year old kind of way, "Is there anyone on The Wall with MY name?!" Not sure if he meant 'Jack' or 'Schultz' I began to search anyway. And it was quite strange learning that, indeed there is a 'Jack Schultz' who gave his life for his country. He can be found on Panel 33W Line 88.

What a great opportunity this has been - for all of us.

Mission Accomplished!

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