How Appropriate

I woke up at 3:30am to the sound of rain on the roof. I thought, sure why not. Riding in the rain wasn't new to us, but why on such a special day for Vietnam Vets on a ride to the wall. Then I as so many have, flashed back to many nights in a country so far away. Rain coming down on our ponchos in such a heavy pounding that the mist was like a fog. It was almost impossible to distinguish the difference between a bush or the Cong. This was the fear that we faced. This now as the rain came down, a thought came to me,

How Appropriate I Thought

We who came from across this nation to ride to the wall, be confronted with a difficult journey in the rain as our previous journey so many years ago,

How Appropriate I Thought

By dawn the rain started to let up giving us the same false hope as the stalled peace talks. As we left the campground escorted by police volunteers from 3 states it didn't take long for us to realize as the past peace talks stalled on the size and shape of the negotiating tales. The rain on this day failed to make peace with us,

How Appropriate I Thought

I wasn't sure, but I thought I heard a plane overhead, perhaps, seeding the clouds. Could it be our government still trying to take us out?

How Appropriate I Thought

The police with a display of red & blue lights flashing front and rear of us helped to keep civilians from driving next to us along our routes. A few cars managed to come up along side of us from the on ramps. As they pulled along side of us the spray from their tires would engulf my brothers to the point of losing sight of their taillights. All we did was trust our brothers directly in front of us and keep up the pace. A familiar tactic from long ago,

How Appropriate I Thought

As the few cars spit on us I thought back to LAX upon my arrival from Nam, as a few spit and cursed us as we were walking down the halls of the airport. Today a few are still spitting on us,

How Appropriate I Thought

We arrived within a stones throw of the wall. The rain backed off as we proceeded towards the Wall. With bag pipes softly sounding down the walk way towards the memorial, I noticed the faces of the civilians, they were not spitting, they were not cursing. They were quite, tears fell from their eyes and their hearts grew heavy as the bowed their heads,

How Appropriate I Thought

What a special moment in my life, what a feeling of satisfaction I now had. As we left Washington D.C. heading back to Delaware, the demons re-appeared. The cloud seeding increased, the civilians spit. The journey was difficult but we trusted our brothers up front and fought our way home. Not one brother stopped to seek shelter, not on brother gave up,

How Appropriate I Thought

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