Memorial Day Sonnet
We're here to honor those who went to war
Who did not wish to die, but did die, grievously,
In eighteen sixty-one and in two-thousand four
Though they were peaceable as you or me.
Young and innocent, they knew nothing of horror ---
Singers and athletes, and all in all well-bred.
Their sergeants, mercifully, made them into warriors,
And at the end, they were moving straight ahead.
As we look at these headstones, row on row on row,
Let us see them as they were, laughing and joking,
On that bright irreverent morning long ago.
And once more, let our hearts be broken.
God have mercy on them for their heroic gift.
May we live the good lives they would have lived.
~ Garrison Keillor ~
A Prairie Home Companion, May 29, 2004
9387 Americans are buried in this military cemetry located at Colleville-sur-Mer, in France, a few meters away from Omaha Beach where soldiers belonging to the 1st and 29th infantry divisions landed on June 6, 1944.
This memorial there is called "The Spirit of American Youth Rising from the Waves." The reflecting pool below is on the opposite side.
We can't forget the wars of our own generation, the lost family, friends and lovers, the changes to those who survive...
WILLIAM LEROY FIX
is honored on Panel 52E, Row 17 of
the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
Full Name:WILLIAM LEROY FIX
Date of Birth:5/19/1949
Date of Casualty:4/26/1968
Home of Record:SAN DIEGO
State:CA
Branch of Service:MARINE CORPS
Rank:PFC
Casualty Country:SOUTH VIETNAM
Casualty Province:QUANG TRI
The above information is from Viet Nam War Memorial Fund website.
58,236 Americans were killed in Viet Nam, 153,452 were wounded, and 1,740 were lost. Over 1 million North Vietnamese were killed. The Army of the Republic of Vietnam lost over a 250,000 and there were untold civilian deaths on both sides. So when I share about my friend, Bill Fix, I know there are millions of people who feel a deep and similar loss.
From the official Viet Nam War Memorial website:
WILLIAM LEROY FIX
PFC - E2 - Marine Corps - Regular
Length of service 0 years
His tour began on Feb 24, 1968
Casualty was on Apr 26, 1968
In QUANG TRI, SOUTH VIETNAM
HOSTILE, GROUND CASUALTY
GUN, SMALL ARMS FIRE
Body was recovered
Every time someone asks me to attend a peace meditation, I think of Bill Fix, the boy who took me to see Georgie Girl and to the Shamrock Shuffle dance at Clairemont High School. Bill laughed at my jokes and won the presidential election at Methodist Youth Fellowship in Pacific Beach. He was handsome, sweet and wonderful and was an amazingly gracious and kind young man who made me feel special and pretty, something that life had not given me before. When we held hands there was electricity! All these years later I still grieve for this glorious golden boy who could have done just about anything he wanted to do. Namaste Bill!
Even now, thinking his name makes me cry all over again for the many friends we lost and it feels like it is my duty to feel that pain because of the price that these many young friends all paid. I hope that somehow my good and joyful life has been some solace to Bill wherever in the great universe he may now be.
Gorgeous photos of Colleville-sur-Mer in Normandy shared by caspermoller on Flickr under Creative Commons rights, and who otherwise had nothing to do with this post or it's written content.
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