This
year as in many years passed, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund honored 165
former servicemen who died from service related illnesses connected to the
Vietnam War in Washington n D.C. at the Vietnam Memorial. Better known to many
as “The Wall,” the Vietnam memorial served as a backdrop for a ceremony that
had over 1400people in attendance among them yours truly the son of former 146th
TAW Alumni Luis E. Rosas who had made the journey to honor his father and induct
him into the VVMF Virtual Honor Roll which contains the names and pictures of
some 2000 Vietnam Veterans who largely died from complications related to their
exposure to Agent Orange during their tours of Vietnam.
Luis’s
surviving son American Mishima author Louis Edward Rosas Jr. was accompanied by former U.S. Army Sergeant Jim
Beaver who served with Luis Rosas at Fort Benning and at An Khe Vietnam as
members of the 1st Air Cavalry Division, 15th
Transportation Corps Battalion, Delta Company to pay tribute to his service
during 1965-1966 as a member of the Avionics Shop which paved the way for a
lifetime career in both civilian and military aviation maintenance. This was a deep emotional journey which we plan to write about in a future book titled "A SON'S JOURNEY TO THE WALL."
The
Memory Day Service is an annual event. If you have a family member who has
passed away from a service related illness from the Vietnam War, you may apply
to have them inducted into the Virtual Honor Roll whose names and photos will
one day go on display at a future planned VVMF museum set to be constructed
adjacent to the Vietnam Memorial Wall. Selected non-perishable items left at
The Wall will one day go on display there.
Since the Wall's construction, people have left everything from teddy bears to dog tags at the base of the Wall. For
Louis Rosas Jr. he left the dog tags of his father’s friend he had kept and a newly
released paperback copy of his father’s book MY FATHER’S WAR IN VIETNAM AND THE
LONG SHADOW OF THE HON CONG MOUNTAIN. He did this so that in his own words as
he refers’ to his father gracing the cover:”We did this so long after I am
gone, my father’s smile will still be here to greet visitors and in doing do
live on.”
To Read about Luis E. Rosas life and
service in Vietnam please visit:
To find out more about the VVMF Memory Day please visit:
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