I was asked to talk about the 50-year anniversary of the Vietnam war. And as most of you can probably tell, I wasn’t alive 50 years ago, so I went to my grandfather who fought in that war and I asked him to recount his experience. I asked him if he lost any friends during that time. He responded with “Hunny, all the guys you are with are your friends. And it hurts to lose any of them.” He recalled for me one individual. Greg. He said “losing that one was hard.” He told me he was a good man who found a Vietnamese child that he wanted to take back to the states with him. My grandfather said that man was later killed in action and the child, lost track of. Ladies and gentlemen. 58, 220 American soldiers died in that war. To some, these numbers aren’t more than graphs, statistics, or numbers on a chart. But to the brave soldiers who fought, each number is a face, a name, a story or a memory. Every number, every digit matters. Let us not forget the 2.5 million soldiers who fought for us. Who fought against communism, against an ideal they felt to be …show more content…
I know I’m very excited about it. As I’m getting my cap ready, decorating it and making plans with my friends; I’m reminded by my grandfather who, the day after his graduation, went to Vietnam, that not everyone gets this celebration. He didn’t get a graduation party; he didn’t get a bonfire with his friends. He walked off his graduation stage onto a plane headed for war. And how lucky are we that he did. That he and 2.5 million others did. These people didn’t get parties. They instead got flying bullets and little support from home. So please, in this time of joy for those of you graduating or celebrating a family member or friend’s graduation, do not forget of the Americans who, instead of celebrating, died on the battlefield. And instead of celebrating today as a day to barbeque and drink, remember that today, is a day of