Remembering Vietnam

As a Vietnam veteran, I always take time whenever I am in Washington to stop at The Wall and pay my respects to friends whose names are there.

Today, the 30th anniversary of the end of the war, is a time to remember the 58,000 Americans who died there, the 300,000 others who were wounded, and the countless others whose lives were shattered, many of them permanently. This site The Wall USA is a good place to visit. Here is another moving tribute at the Vietnam Veterans Art Museum.

There is no similar site that I can find that honors the Vietnamese dead -- the combatants on both sides, and the civilians caught in the crossfire. It is difficult even to come by reliable estimates of casualties, but most say there were more than 1-million military deaths, and perhaps 500,000 civilians killed. Other estimates are much higher. Millions of others were wounded and many millions more were displaced from their homes. Take a moment to remember them today, too.