As we approach Memorial Day 2022, I always like to take time out and acknowledge the folks who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country. As I watched the PGA golf event last week, I became very annoyed over the announcers talking about how heroic Tiger Woods was in his performance. Watching a billionaire whose injuries are self-inflicted play a few rounds of golf and telling me he’s heroic is a little bit of a stretch, at least for me it is.
I have run into this guy at the VA hospital a few different times, I just know him as Al. Al is a friendly guy and loved to talk about baseball. One day, Al and I were waiting in the audiology dept, and we were asked to come back after lunch. Al walked with a cane, and we walked down to the cafeteria together. As we sat together at lunch, I noticed a tattoo on his forearm, it said Khe Sahn 1968. I ask him, “you were at Khe Sahn?” He said “yes, it’s where I got this limp”. Al said, “till this day, thunder and lightning still shake me to the core and I still struggle with sleep”. Al spent 56 days at Khe Sahn and saw some the worst things in his life in and around that base. You could see when he talked about it, Khe Sahn was still a scar that hadn’t healed for Al.
Khe Sahn was a base right at the border of South and North Vietnam. The battle was fought at the base and surrounding hills in the area. Some of the worst hand to hand combat of the war was fought there. Defending the area were two regiments of US Marines but the were up against 3 divisions of the North Vietnamese army, The siege lasted 77 days and in the end the Marines held their ground against a larger force of enemy combatants. 274 marines made the ultimate sacrifice at Khe Sahn. These are the folks we celebrate Memorial Day for.
The nurse at the VA clinic told me that Al passed away the other week, it made my heart ache. As I think about my friend Al, the first word that comes to mind is “hero”, the sacrifices he made for his country, now that is heroic!
Take time out today to remember all those heroes who gave their life for our freedom!
