This is the week the long Vietnam War ended.
2,654 Michigan soldiers, including Lucas, my oldest brother died there. Luke was 23.
When it finally ended I was at St. Mary's College, in Orchard Lake, Michigan. No one seemed to notice that it was over. I was glad and needed to talk about that War.
The Vietnam Veterans of America, Detroit Chapter 9, will honor our fallen heroes with the Vietnamese American Association of Michigan Saturday, May 1 about noon on Woodward, north of Temple. They will honor both nations and the end of the War.
Many people know someone who served.
My brother died there February 18, 1968. I recall the dedication of the granite wall in Constitution Garden in Washington, D.C. PFC Lucas J. Ventline. I got to read his name out loud at the dedication in the National Cathedral. It was pouring rain outside as we headed to the Wall. The rain wouldn't stop me, however, from finding my brother's name etched in the stone. It seemed as if all the vets were buried there. My tears wed with the rain. It was a solemn moment as we prayed in the rain.
The price of war: Humans dying. Still. Yet. Today. Everywhere war is raging, it seems.
When will we ever learn? When will we?
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