Bozho,

A lot has been said about remembering our veterans in this and previous years. More and more, our nation is learning the value of the veterans and military service men and women it has produced.

To give some perspective on the impact their commitment and sacrifice has made on our society, here is a little history most people will never know. The following information are the
statistics available on the Vietnam Veterans War Memorial.

  • 58,267 names are now listed on this special black wall. The names are arranged in the order in which they were taken from us, by date and in alphabetical order.
  • It has been 57 years since the first casualty on 8 June 1956. His name is listed on the Wall with that of his son killed on 7 September 1965. There are three sets of fathers and sons on the Wall.
  • 39,996 were just 22 years old or younger.
  • 8,283 were just 19 years old.
  • 12 soldiers were 17 years old.
  • Five soldiers were 16.
  • One was only 15 years old.
  • 997 soldiers were killed on their first day in Vietnam.
  • 1,448 were killed on their last day in Vietnam.
  • 31 sets of brothers are on the Wall, meaning 31 sets of parents lost two of their sons.
  • 8 women were killed nursing the wounded.
  • 244 soldiers were awarded the Medal of Honor during the Vietnam War, of those 153 are on the Wall.
  • The most deaths on a single day was on 31 January 1968, with 245 killed.
  • The most deaths for a single month was May 1968, with 2,415.

Most who read this will only see the numbers that the Vietnam War created, but those of us who survived the war, and the families of those who did not, will see the faces, feel the pain and pride that these numbers reflect. We are haunted by these numbers, because they were our friends, fathers, husbands, wives, sons and daughters. There are no noble wars, only noble warriors.

Migwetch.

P.S. We are sorry we did not have a monthly meeting in May, but our meeting site was flooded. Barring any future floods, we will have our monthly CPN Veterans Organization meeting starting in July on the fourth Tuesday of the month at 6 p.m. (or as soon as you can get there) in the North Reunion Hall in the Potawatomi Powwow Grounds. All CPN veterans and
their families are welcome. A meal is provided.