I was thoroughly moved by Brenda Stewart’s “A short walk down a long path” in your August 11, 2010, issue.

During my recent trip to Washington, D.C., I visited the Lincoln Memorial, the Jefferson Memorial, the Washington Monument, Arlington National Cemetery and the nearby Marine Corps Memorial – also known as the Iwo Jima Statue, and, for about the eighth time, the Viet Nam Wall. And, as ever, I had a hard time clearing up after walking the whole length. As I walked down into the earth and began to view the names, I looked – as I always do – for “Burt McCord,” the little brother of a high school classmate. He died very soon after he arrived over there in the quagmire. And it was such a waste! His father ran a service station two blocks from our house, and he was teaching Burt all the different kinds of work that a manager must do to run a service station. And all that teaching and learning was lost in Viet Nam. After I visited with Burt, I moved on down and left the memorial.

The over-whelming emotions described and suggested by Ms. Stewart were quickly and easily recognized by me as poignant experiences shared by Ms. Stewart, myself, and all of the other visitors.

What a wonderful gift Maya Lin, the young 21-year-old Chinese architect who designed the Wall, gave to us!

Lem Londos Railsback
YNC-USMCR&USNR-RET; O.S.M.
Laredo

P.S.: We should remember that the 58,195 names on the Wall are those that we know about for sure. There were others.