Whether it’s a warm, almost summer day, or a gray day with showers and rain, we remember you—for you are part of our hearts’ memories.
We see your young, smiling face as you look so proud in your uniform. We remember your school days playing on the playground, then in later years, getting your driver’s license and all the firsts of young adulthood.
Sadly, you were lost to us in the jungles of Vietnam. We wonder what your life would have been like if you had not died in that war. By now you would have had grandchildren and maybe even great-grandchildren.
You were taken so young—fighting for your nation—subject to jungle heat, guerrilla warfare, and Agent Orange.
We wish you were here with us today, but though you’re in a better place than this still angry world, we love and miss you every day of our lives on this earth.
Your name is engraved on a black granite monument in Washington D.C., but it is also engraved in our hearts. Rest in peace, dear friend. You will never be forgotten.
—Bernadette R. Gentry
