This past Saturday my neighbor and good friend Mike called and suggested that we visit the “Moving Wall”, a memorial to those who paid the ultimate price in Vietnam. It was a moving experience.

On the wall there are the names of 58,320 casualties. Of those 8 are women. 2,056 are inscribed “Body not recovered”. The average age of the deceased was 22.8 years. In the mass of people who came out on Memorial Day to see the moving wall there were many veterans. I witnessed one old gentleman look at a spot on the wall for perhaps a minute and then, with his back as straight as any Marine ever stood he gave a prolonged salute. When he finally turned away with parade precision I saw tears running down his cheeks. They never forget, the pain never goes away.

This letter left at the bottom of the wall by a 5th grader is a fine example of what it means to be a patriot. We care. The few, the brave gave all they had to give, and we care.

The Vietnam War was the first war whose military strategy was decided not by experienced military men on the ground but by political types in Washington, D.C. who had never had their hands dirty. We will never win a war run out of the beltway.

What did our country accomplish in Vietnam? Well today what was then North and South Vietnam are now just one big Communist country. We made a lot of children orphans. We made a lot of wives widows. And we largely treated those who did make it back to our shores like human trash.

Liberalism has not changed except that it is worse. A segment of our people do not know honor, have no shame, and live only for what is easiest and satisfies the most base desires of a human.

This American will not forget those who died in the jungles of Vietnam, those whose planes were shot down over Germany, those who died in the deserts of Iraq and Afghanistan, and at Pearl Harbor. Neither will I forget those who died at Fort Morgan, Gettysburg, Vicksburg and dozens of other places where brave young men gave their all for their countrymen.

The Civil War General Sherman said “War is hell boys…”. I hate war and all it represents. But, as long as evil is alive there will be war. The brave will step up and put their lives on the line just as they have since the first in the history of mankind.

I believe that if something is serious enough for the United States to send our young men and women into harms way it is serious enough to win at all costs. Trying to fight a heartless and evil enemy while being politically correct is unwise and the persons responsible when we do it should be tried for treason.

I hate war of every kind. But, if you are going to have a war, Win it!

I salute every family and friend who was touched by losing a loved one in Vietnam.

Royce Ogle