Soon It was time for me to go home to Milwaukee. Sometime after I returned home Tim Hren my buddy who joined the Marines was killed In Viet Nam. He was crawling out to bring in wounded Marines and was shot several times. For what? His dreams were over. Semper Fi buddy, Semper Fi! In December 2012 I went to Englewood, Florida to visit The Wall The traveling Viet Nam Memorial. This is what I wrote about My Visit..... I went to Englewood today to visit the traveling Viet Nam Memorial “The Wall”! I asked a nice lady sitting at the information desk to help me locate my friend. I gave her his name and in a quiet whisper-like voice she said “Panel 53W Line 043”. A line and a panel number? That line was once a real flesh and blood being who never aspired to be a panel number and a line. He laughed, cried, hard to anger and quick to find humor in anything. He was a good high school wrestler who wore dorky black rimmed glasses. Like all of us he just wanted to fit in. He had dreams too, like the rest of us! We talked about what our future would bring. Who we might marry, and kids we would have. We both agreed they would be wrestlers. Not important now! That was 44 + years ago. Forty four years, panel 53W line 043, wow? Why? Watching the others there, I noticed many emotions. Anger, quiet stares and lots of tears. Men and women In wheel chairs, with canes and slow walks. Mostly their quick steps of their youth gone. That sparkle In our eyes we all have In our youth gone. As I stared at “The Wall” black and shiny, I could see the reflections of other faces on the wall. Heads bent, reaching out, as I did, to touch the name of the person they felt they were visiting. Kind of a healing for many! The names on the wall are in chronological order by date of death. You can see who they were with when they died. I sat down by my friend and even though I no longer smoke, lit a cigar and placed another by his name. It was something I remembered doing together! A whisper said “sorry, no smoking”. I told him about my life and said I wish he could have been there. I told him I would see him soon and left a final sentence unfinished. Panel 53W Line 043 was one of the first of the 58,282 names. He was killed on July, 8th 1968. He was a Marine Corporal, I CO, 3RD BN, 7th Marines, 1st Mardiv United States Marine Corps, Semper Fi Buddy! Panel 53W Line 043 had a name. He was Timothy Louis Hren and he was and always will be my friend! I miss many of my friends!
Posted on: Sun, 20 Oct 2013 00:23:59 +0000
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