THE WALL OF FACES

Rest in peace with the warriors.

A portion of Sepulveda Boulevard/State Highway Route 1 in El Segundo near Los Angeles International Airport has been dedicated to the residents of Los Angeles County who served in Vietnam. This section of highway is now designated the Los Angeles County Vietnam Veterans Memorial Highway. Adopted by the California State Legislature in 2000, the highway honors the more than 350,000 California veterans who served in the Vietnam War, including the 5,822 killed or missing in action. Los Angeles County has the largest number of Vietnam veterans in California and 1,857 of its residents were killed or missing in action during that war. This memorial corridor provides a fitting and proper way for the residents of Los Angeles County to express their gratitude and appreciation for the sacrifices these Vietnam veterans have made for their country.

I never met Dale but came across his headstone while attending the burial of my cousin in September 1972. As a young boy, I remember being impressed by the military insignia on Dale's grave. I assume he had been interred only a few weeks before. Some time later, I recall picking up a copy of the Los Angeles Times, open to the Obituaries section. There I spotted an obituary for Dale's father, who had taken his own life at Dale's grave. The coincidence of seeing this stuck with me indelibly. Last week I visited Washington DC for the first time and made a rubbing of Dale's name, for no other reason than that I felt connected to him somehow. I've since learned that he was from Canoga Park, CA, where I lived from '65 to '68 and that he died on his birthday at age 23. I guess you could say I adopted Dale as my own personal hero of the Vietnam war. I wish I had known him in life. Perhaps we'll meet in the next.

Do not stand at my grave and weep.
I am not there; I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow,
I am the diamond glints on snow,
I am the sun on ripened grain,
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning's hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there; I did not die.

Mary Frye – 1932

It is said a man hasn't died as long as he is remembered. This prayer is a way for families, friends and fellow veterans to remember our fallen brothers and sisters. Do not stand at my grave and weep I am not there, I do not sleep. I am a thousand winds that blow, I am the diamond glints on snow. I am the sunlight on ripened grain, I am the gentle autumn rain. When you awaken in the morning hush, I am the swift, uplifting rush of quiet birds in circled flight, I am the stars that shine at night. Do not stand at my grave and cry, I am not there, I did not die