No More Silent

This day, Memorial Day 2008, as many Americans spend time barbequing, swimming, and enjoying the company of families and friends; thousands of war veterans celebrate in a very different way.

Nearly 40 years ago to the day a small squad of U.S. Marines were fighting for their lives and the lives of the occupants of a village in Vietnam. I was there.

Women and children were being hustled out of the street by the Marines as the enemy approached. Then we sought shelter in a school built by the Americans for the people of that small hamlet. Gunfire and rocket explosions erupted for well over an hour as the enemy troops, who outnumbered us by more than 20 to 1, slowly began encircling the school.

Somehow every single American Marine escaped the onslought. The villagers and the enemy were not so fortunate. It was estimated that over 100 people lost their lives in that battle.

Every year, on Memorial Day, the sounds of the gunfire and rocket explosions erupt once again. I can still hear the walls of that school being shattered by AK-47 rounds. I can still hear the innocents caught in the crossfire screaming for help.

This year, like every other since then, the sounds of that battle are silent ... except on Memorial Day, when the battle is fought over and over again; always with the same results.