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52 maconmagazine.com | OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2023 the end of U.S. involvement in Vietnam. We silently walked the short distance to the Wall where two of our veterans, Maconites Herb Greenwald and Stewart Brown, serendipitously recognized the docent, Dan Moore, with whom they served in the Fi h Marine, second Battalion more than 50 years ago. The three had a joyful reunion before Moore began to explain how the wall lists the names of all 58,281 Americans who were killed, chronologically, and with those whom they perished. The reflective black marble Memorial begins at a height of 8 inches, and is 10 feet, three inches at its zenith. Built on a gentle slope, visitors begin walking its length at ground level, descend below it and ascend back to ground level. Moore described it as a descent into hell at the lowest point, where the names of the dead tower above visitors. Originally as controversial as the War itself, Maya Lin's minimalistic memorial today is among Washington's most popular memorials, attracting more than five million visitors annually. More than 400,000 personal items have been le at the at the base of the Wall. And there, between a large Ziplock bag containing a single red rose and another holding a letter and a child's drawing, guardian Robbie Elaine Hilliard, a nurse at the Dublin VA Medical Center, placed the inscribed copy of her father J.C. Hilliard's book, Tour of Duty, 13 Months in Vietnam, under his watchful eye. The book's inscription reads, "This book which I wrote is le here in memory of these brothers who I was with when they died," CPL Stamp on our flight IDs. Vietnam Veterans Memorial Called a park within a park, the Vietnam Memorial was created to "begin the healing process and forever stand as a symbol of our national unity." Unsurprisingly, this stop, the pinnacle of our trip, unleashed a torrent of emotions. Upon our arrival at the two-acre site, we photographed the 16 Vietnam veterans in front of a lesser-known element of the Memorial, a bronze statue entitled "Three Servicemen." Immediately a erward, Bill Carey raised his trumpet to his lips and played "Taps," and everyone in the immediate area halted in reverence. Bill told me later that he had originally chosen another place to play the iconic bugle song, facing the Wall some 200 feet away, but a er the photo, he spontaneously said to himself, "This is the spot. We're all together, and I feel comfortable with the guys. So I closed my eyes, began to play. And even though I was nervous, I felt great relief as I played. That was my mission, to play 'Taps' at the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C., and I did it." At this spot the Mission 15 veterans each received a Vietnam Veteran Lapel Pin from the Vietnam War Commemoration organization. The pins are to be given to all veterans on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces between November 1, 1955 and May 15, 1975 and will be distributed through 2025, the 50th anniversary of LEFT Bill Carrey emotionally prepares to trumpet "Taps" at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in honor of his brothers and sisters in service ABOVE J.C. Hilliard and his daughter left a copy of his book, Tour of Duty, at the base of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall under the names of the brothers he lost in battle RIGHT At the WWII Memorial