THE WALL OF FACES

Richard is buried at Island Pond Cemetery in Harwich, MA. SS BSM AM PH

On this your angel day I wanted to express my gratitude to you for your service to our country and for the greatest sacrifice any man can make – your precious life.



Many have said that the Vietnam War was a pointless war and that the loss of your life was in useless and at one point in time it may have seemed so, but I do not feel that this is true now.



Your service and sacrifice have not been in vain, but has been a source of healing and hope. This is signified in all the messages left by the youth of our nation on this sacred site. I read their comments and know that you are not forgotten by them and that you and your brothers-in-arms will be an influence for good for generations to come.



I will always remember you and the others on The Wall. You are not and never will be just names etched into a piece granite and I will do my utmost best to never to forget you and to do all that I can do to keep your memory alive. Even if it is just to leave a message here on your remembrance page on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial site. This is my promise to you and the others.



Rest well now and know that you are always remembered by this humble American.

FOREVER REMEMBERED

"If you are able, save for them a place inside of you....and save one backward glance when you are leaving for the places they can no longer go.....Be not ashamed to say you loved them....
Take what they have left and what they have taught you with their dying and keep it with your own....And in that time when men decide and feel safe to call the war insane, take one moment to embrace those gentle heroes you left behind...."

Quote from a letter home by Maj. Michael Davis O'Donnell
KIA 24 March 1970. Distinguished Flying Cross: Shot down and Killed while attempting to rescue 8 fellow soldiers surrounded by attacking enemy forces.

We Nam Brothers pause to give a backward glance, and post this remembrance to you , one of the gentle heroes and patriots lost to the War in Vietnam:

Slip off that pack. Set it down by the crooked trail. Drop your steel pot alongside. Shed those magazine-ladened bandoliers away from your sweat-soaked shirt. Lay that silent weapon down and step out of the heat. Feel the soothing cool breeze right down to your soul ... and rest forever in the shade of our love, brother.

From your Nam-Band-Of-Brothers

While studying the postwar effects on our country, I can't help but feel the war remains very distant from me. I do not have any relatives (that i know of) who fought in Vietnam and can find very few connections between myself and the war. When I arrived at this web site I immediately typed in the city and state which I live. Richard Leo Rogers is the only name listed. Right away, I feel a connection towards him and sense of warmth. He was twenty-two when he died at war, probably four years after he graduated from Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High school (built in 1954) where I sit right now. Richard would have experienced this building in its early years and here I sit, the final graduating class before the building is knocked down and a new school is constructed. I find this interesting and know that very few things last forever. One thing that will live on is the memory of all the veterans and soldiers who risked their lives for our country. I am grateful everyday for the sacrifices men and women made before me. Thank you Richard, the supporting community in this small town must have been incredibly proud.

I came across Lt. Richard Rogers grave marker while visiting Cape Cod, July 2001, and stopped and said a prayer. I did not know this man but I know that he deserved my thoughts and a moment of silence. I hope that he will always be remembered as well as all the others that gave their lives. They will always be "forever young" and may they rest in peace.