10 Thursday, March 13, 1997 Pahrump Valley Gazette
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Revisiting Forgotten Memories
By Robert Lowes
When I first went to Korea back in the early
fifties, I was among the first group of state-
side replacements to arrive after the outbreak
of the conflict between the north and the
south. At the time, I was considered the "kid"
in my unit. By the time of the buildup of our
involvement began in Vietnam, a few short
years later, the kids we were sending there to
fight an unopular war thought of me, a few
years their senior in both age and grade, as
the "old man." How time flies when you are
having fun. My fun during those intervening
years consisted of starting a family and get-
ting a foothold in my journalistic career. It
wasn't until after the Robert Kennedy
assonation in 1967 that I became personally
involved in covering the war beyond the anti-
war protests on college campuses and flag-
burning demonstrations at military installa-
tions.
From those early experiences, guess you
could have called me a "Dove" regarding the
faraway war. However, by the time the war
was finally over and I returned, I obviously
had become a "Hawk." Not that I became a
believer in the war, but as an eyewitness to
the needless slaughter of young Americans
lives as a result of a misguided national
policy. I wrote for and about them, morethan
I did in support of the war. Those fesh-faced
kids, who served and survived are now in
their late forties or early fifties, I'm sure con-
tinue to think of me as the "old man," a title,
which I now have grown to cherish rather
than resent.
Vietnam Veterans from opposite sides of the
country gathered last week to honor and re-
flect on some oflen-painful memories of
America's most divisive and misunderstood
war, which came as close to splitting the na-
tion as did our own Civil War more than a
hundred years earlier.
Back in our nation's capitol, six United
States Senators, all veterans of the war,
joined with others in front of the V-shaped
black granite Vietnam wall that carries the
names of the 58,196 dead and missing. They
came to honor the memories of these men on
the 15th anniversary of the memorial to
those who didn't make it back from the
Southeast Asian war.
Meanwhile, out here in the West, a small,
but dedicated contingent of Vietnam-era vet-
erans assembled on the desert sands of the
de 00]a'vu time at memorial walls
Amargosa Valley in Nye County to salute a
traveling replica of the national monument,
popularly known as the "Moving Wall,"
Those veterans from across the nation had
just completed their 15th annual running of
the annual 100-mile Death Valley Marathon
to pay homage to fallen comrades who made
the ultimate sacrifice for their country. This,
perhaps marked the final running of the an-
nual memorial run for
the aging veterans.
"The spirit is still
willing," said run co-
ordinator Hank
Humphreys of Buf-
falo, "but our war-worn knees are getting
weak."
"There are still veterans of that tragic war
whose scars have not healed and who need
our comfort and assistance. The next time you
see one of them, all Americans should just say
a long-overdue "Welcome home," said Sen
John McCain, R-Ariz., who was captured, tor-
tured and held prisoner by the North Vietnam-
ese for seven long years after his Navy plane
was shot down. We interviewed his father,
the late Adm. John McCain, Sr., on an almost
weekly basis when he was the head of
CINCPAC. and were personally priledged to
be one of the first correspondents to interview
the young commander on his release from the
infamous Hanoi Hilton
It is with great pride and respect that I have
followed the post war senatorial career of the
youg Vietnam veteran from neighboring Ari-
zona. McCain, who was joined at the recent
D.C. ceremonies by five other Vietnam
veterams who today are also United States
Senators. They were: Sen. Charles Robb, D-
Va., Sen. Bob Kerry, D-Neb., Sen. Chuck
Hagel, R-Neb., Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., and
Sen.Max Clleland, D-Ga.
McCain admitted that he, like millions of
other Americanss, was not always a supporter
of the memorial wall when it was first con-
ceived. Built with contributions to the Viet-
nam Veterans Memorial Fund, its stark design
was criticised as being too gloomy.
But all that changed when McCain himself
visited the memorial one evening just out of
curiosity and saw two Vietnam veterans -
strangers to each other - meet at the wall.
"In a few minutes, they were embracing like
long lost friends and crying," said McCain, his
Slim attempts songwriting
99 Bottles of beer on the wall. If one of those
etc. etc. and it goes on for ever and ever. After
I get done with my lateist project I will be able
to sing my own version of this song.
For years I've been experimenting with dif-
ferent varations of solar heating. Most of the
time I don't know what i'am doing but I go
ahead and do it anyway.
I've got the heat collect-
ing part, down pretty Slim Sez
good. It s a simple hot bv Slim Sirnes
air system, where the sun "
heats Aluminum pannels
(made up of flattened cans what else.) The air
hehindthese parinels gets up to around 160 to
-180 degrees and is then drawn by a blower down
into a heat sink room where in theory it will be
available when needed.
But here is where it fell short of the desired
results. My first attempt of heat storage was to
fill this room with rocks of varying sizes of
which we have plenty of and being free was even
better. The idea being that the incoming hot air
circulating thru the rocks would heat them. This
worked fair and maybe I shoulda quit while I
was ahead. But then l read somewhere that wa-
ter was an even better heat storage medium. So
out comes the rocks. There sure seemed to bea
lot more of them then when I put them in there.
I used to wonder what was going on in there
when I would hear panting and strange noises.
I thought I had it solved as to what sort of wa-
ter containers I could use
watel]
to replace the rocks.
Out at the dump there
are always a lot of empty
9ne gallon plastic milk
jugs. If I filled them with
it should do the job. Well
sorta. Sorta that is till the
got warmed up. Plastic
melts when it gets hot and it's not to much fun
when a room full of hot water trys to spread it-
self all over the rest of ihe place. Ditto, bless
her refrained from commenting. So out comes
the now empty plastic bottles and I got me an
almost empty heat sink room which every day
would be filled with hot air which would be
allright if I was a politician. What to replace
voiice heavy with emotion. "It made it clear
to me that this was a wonderful place of rec-
onciliation, a wonderful place of healiing."
Sen. Charles Robb agreed with his colleague
and fellow veteran. Even though the construc-
tion of the wall was an experiment that we were
not sure would work, Robb said the monument
served its purpose from the beginning as a
place of healing'that continues to this day.
Sen. Bob Kerrey
said the final step to-
ward that healing pro-
cess will be made
when former Rep. Pete
Peterson, D-FIa, who
was aptured and held
prisoner after his
plane was downed,
takes up his post as
the first U.S. ambassador to postwar Vietnam
later this year.
"The body heals much quicker than the spirit
and the heart," said Kerrey, who lost part of
his right leg in the war in a mine explosion.
Like the six senators, millions of Americans
have found solace in reading the names in-
scribed on the wall. More than 2.5 mill people
visit the D.C. wall every year , making it the
most visited monument in Washington.
Typical of those visiting the monument for
the first time, Nye County Commissioner
Bobby Revert told us that it was the most-mov-
ing experience of his life to read and touch the
names 58,196 dead and missing. The visitors,
some with lips quivering, others with tears in
their eyes, frequently leave personal momentos
at the base of the wall, which is comprised of
140tablets of polished black granite. . ,
The c0nfirind dead are marked with dia-
mond; those missing in action with a cross;
those MIAs whose remains have been positevly
identified have a diamond superimposed on the
CROSS. ,
Now twenty-two years after the last Ameri-
can soldier left Vietnam, the senators sadly re-
flected on the legacy of the wall. They then
laid a wreath at the base of the monument.
At the conclusion of equally emotional cer-
emonies in the Amargosa Valley, the Moving
Wall traveled to Death Valley and then on
Barstow and Ridgecrest, Calif. The local visit
of the Wall was co-sponsored by Jim Marsh
of the Inn/Casino and Amargosa Valley VFW
Post 6826.
them with that would last and more importantly
be free?
Looking out in the yard. I saw a pile of dif-
ferent glass bottles leftovers from when I built
my underground Greenhouse-chicken coop roof.
Fill then with water and it should work real well
to store heat. Of course like all projects there
wasn't enough of them. I guess I coulda hung
out in the local pubs doing my part to generate
moreempty bottles. But found that my kidneys
wern't up to it and after a while who cares about
filling heat slnks.
The answer to my bottle supply problem came
as we were driving to town the other day. All
along the road sides were beer bottles depos-
ited by drivers observing the empty open con-
tainer laws. So thats what is rapidly filling my
heat sink room. It would be interesting to be
around a few centurys from now, when some
researcher digging found my stash of bottles. I
wonder what would be going through their
minds.
Have a good one I gota go out and get some
more bottles.
