Dog Tags...Above & Beyond

This was sent to me by a reader:
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The Chicago National Veteran’s Art Museum has an unusual work of art. When visitors first enter the museum, they will hear a sound like wind chimes coming from above them and their attention will be drawn upward 24 feet to the ceiling of the two-story high atrium.

Dog tags of the more than 58,000 service men and women who died in the Vietnam War hang from the ceiling of the National Vietnam Veterans Art Museum in Chicago on Veterans Day, November 11, 2010. The 10-by-40-foot sculpture, entitled Above & Beyond, was designed by Ned Broderick and Richard Stein.

The tens of thousands of metal dog tags are suspended 24 feet in the air, 1 inch apart, from fine lines that allow them to move and chime with shifting air currents. Museum employees using a kiosk and laser pointer help visitors locate the exact dog tag with the imprinted name of their lost friend or relative. If it weren't for the United States military, there'd be NO United States of America.

Veitnam, 35 Years Later

The Boston Globe has some very good pictures from Vietnam.  Here are a few.

What Marines Do...

A Marine rifleman assisting another wounded Marine while under  heavy fire from the tree line in the background.  One of the hallmarks of the USMC is that NO ONE GETS LEFT BEHIND, no matter what.  Even if he's dead, you go get them and bring them home.  This is just about the first lesson that gets pounded into a young recruits heading during boot camp at both MCRD Parris Island, SC and MCRD San Diego, CA.  I learned it back in the early '80's in Parris Island, and it's part of the tradition that bind ALL Marines together.  Even if you don't like the guy, you go get him...

A CH-46 Sea Knight Going Down In Flames

This medium lift helicopter was caught by ground fire and crashed killing 12 infantry men as well as 1 crewman.  3 other crewmen suffered serious burns.  I was a gunner on the port side of a helicopter like this one.  We were told that a gunner's combat life in a "hot LZ" was about 17 seconds...here's proof of that.