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Aluminum Coffins

By George Stahl

Posted

As far as months go, January runs a close first for most boring. There are few things that happened in the month worth noting. Except for maybe the most significant being the ending of the Viet Nam war in 1973 on Jan. 22. It was 51 years ago today that President Richard Nixon signed an official ceasefire to declare the United States involvement in the conflict at an end. He called it, ‘Peace with honor’ and that it would be effective on Jan 27 at midnight. The last U.S. troops withdrew from Viet Nam on March 29, 1973, two months after the agreement was signed.
However, due to an enormous unfortunate mishandling of the war, referred to as a ‘conflict’, the constant arguing about the reason we were even there in the first place, and the escalation of violence and protests across the county, the men and women who fought, who were wounded, and who suffered severe mental anguish for the United States, were not given a hero’s welcome when they returned home. Instead, the 3 million troops who returned from the war were not given a ticker tape parade, nor were they offered a thank you for your service from the majority of Americans. The official record of those who died in the war is 58,220 American troops. That is 58,220 American families who lost their fathers and mothers, sons and daughters, grandsons, granddaughters, and nephews, and nieces, and brothers and sisters in a war that wasn’t a war. Whether you were for the war or against it, that’s nearly 60,000 human beings who died for their country. To take anything away from that is a travesty.
So, I take back my opening sentence. January is not a boring, uneventful month. January is one of the most significant months in this country’s history, and the most significant in all of those lives who lived and died in it. January, the first month of the year is not there by circumstance or accident. January takes its position first in line of the year because it is so outstanding, and should be treated with reverence and respect, but just the opposite was true in 1973. The bodies of those who died were transported to two locations. Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, and Travis Air Force Base in Texas. The aluminum unpainted coffins they travelled in were not draped with the American flag and no one played taps. Instead they were processed for home on the cracked and decaying tarmacs of these military airports. They were sorted and sent to their destination cities around the United States without any pomp, or ceremonies. They were cargo, just another aluminum box. That was 51 years ago today.
Today there is a wall made of an extremely highly reflective material from a quarry in Bangalore Karnataka, India. The wall is located in Constitution Garden in Washington, D.C. It consists of two connected panels each 246 ft. long, 9 inches thick, and 10.1 ft. tall. At one end it tapers down to only 8 inches. On it is inscribed the names of 58, 272 men and 8 women who were among those brought to the Air Force Base tarmacs in 1973 in aluminum coffins. This awe inspiring and so well-deserved memorial was dedicated to these soldiers in 1982. It also lists the names of the 1,200 who are missing in action signified by a cross before their names. It is called, ‘The Viet Nam Veterans Memorial’.
As you stand in front of this massive wall, and search through the names, you can see your reflection overlaid on the lives of those listed, and if you look hard enough, you can see their faces looking back at you. A feeling of sadness and a sense of grief overtake you, in an almost apologetic way as you gently guide your fingertips over the surface. The ghosts of our past have a way of reminding us where we were, and where we are, and how far we have yet to go. The Viet Nam Veterans Memorial Wall and the other memorials to other wars surrounding the National Mall are a beacon that can guide us into the future and light our way to what we need to be as a nation. They serve to help us to be proud to be an American. Maybe 2025 will be the doorway to our future as a nation. It is up to us to see that happen. To teach our children about what America was meant to be and how so many over the years have fought to keep her that way. And to let them know how many of those brave men and women have given their lives in those fights. We cannot allow room for anymore aluminum coffins.