THE WALL OF FACES

Thank you for your service to our country so long ago sir. While all deaths in Vietnam are tragic that you died just three days after your 21st birthday is especially so. May you rest in eternal peace.

As Joe's brother (and PNOK) our family continues to question the accounting protocol for Joe and three other crew members aboard Baron 52. Shot down 7 days after the signing of the Paris Peace Accords during a tumultuous period of the peace agreement, this fact sews valid seeds of doubt as to the premature assignment of KIA status. The 50th Anniversary of the Signing of the Peace Accords on 27 January 2023 brings untold layers of emotions within our family knowing his bones have never been verified to be among the 26 bone fragments buried at Arlington said to represent all 8 crew members. No DNA tests were ever conducted. Feel free to contact me if you feel the need for more insight into this case.

Yesterday was February 5th and I remembered meeting your siblings at the Vietnam Wall some years ago while working as Yellow Hat volunteer. They had a picture of you on a stand and I stopped and asked. They told me your story and it has stayed in my heart since. As a Vietnam Vet that was in country on the day you were taken I often think of what life should have been for you. I’ve been privileged to live and experience my life, but I hurt for those we have lost and those that were so severely wounded. Even though we never met you will be thought of until I pass on. I just wish I could have welcomed you home. Rest in Pease.

Welcome Home.

HOOAH

In 1989 I was out from California, touring Washington DC with my Boy Scout troop en route to the National Boy Scout Jamboree in Fort A. P. Hill, Virginia. Our troop was staying at the dormitories at Georgetown University. I didn't know when in my life I would be back in the capital, and because of this I took it upon myself to go to the places that I thought were important. Over the course of our stay, being the rebellious and truth seeking youth that I was, I would sneak out of the dormitory at night and visit various places that were not part of our planned itinerary. One late night, I happened upon a POW-MIA booth and stopped to talk to the gentleman there. I learned a lot from that late night talk with that veteran. Before I left the booth, I purchased a book about the Vietnam Memorial and later the man offered me a gift to express his appreciation for stopping by and talking with him. He presented me with a red aluminum bracelet which identified a person who was a POW-MIA. I read the name on the bracelet, Sergeant Joseph Andrew Matejov. I put the bracelet on my wrist, and walked on to visit the memorial. It is hard to put into words, what is was like being at the Wall in the middle of the night, walking amongst the mourners and candle lights, but I will never forget the sense of awe and compassion that I felt. When I returned to the dormitory, I was so moved that I sat on the floor in the hall way, and read the book about the Vietnam War that I had purchased earlier that night. As I read, I found myself drawn to feeling the inscribed name on the bracelet. Over a few hours, I read the book and cried more that I ever have in all the combined years of my childhood. My heart and soul were both lifted and broken, and my view of the world forever changed. I fell asleep in that hallway and when they found me in the morning and asked why I was sleeping in the hallway, I didn't have the words to explain. I carried that bracelet with me for many years, remembering that experience. Today I remember again, and write. I am forever thankful of my journey back then and continue to say a prayer for Joseph and his family.