A Vietnam Veteran pays a short visit to one of his long lost friends.

The Wall has now been out of town for a week. I kind of miss it. I was fortunate to be able to be absent from school to volunteer at The Wall last Thursday and Friday. I cannot begin to describe my feelings of gratitude toward my principal, Mrs. Thompson for allowing me to do so.

On Thursday, we had several school groups to come through. It was bewildering to see the kindergarteners better behaved than the sixth to ninth graders, but that's a different story. I was getting bothered by the fact that the youth wasn't really realizing the significance of The Wall and what those names meant. Those names are not only names, they are people. People who gave their lives for us here in America. There was one boy who changed my day. He looked to be about ten years old. He ran over to his grandfather, or whomever was with him, carrying a sheet of paper.

He said, "Look, they gave me this sheet of paper, it has one of those guys on it! Look, it even tells me things about him!" Colonel Overbay asked him if he knew how to find his name and he took the boy over to the wall and told him all about the man on the sheet.

The fire in that young boy's eyes and fascination made that day so worthwhile.

The atmosphere there at the wall was so peaceful. The beauty of Cypress Park really fit the occasion. The ancient trees stretching up into the sky with the cool light breeze blowing the flags was just really surreal.

Friday came and it's almost too hard to put into words. The veterans from the 1st Calvary were so appreciative and so complementary on our hospitality. I can't even give you a number of how many people told me thank you for having them. Every time I was told that, I didn't know how to respond. "You're welcome" didn't seem to suffice. It was more than that. I'm the one who should be thanking them for their service. To some of those guys, Marked Tree is now their home. I believe that now, Marked Tree's motto "a place to come home to" is true.

I remember gazing down the street during the parade and seeing busses with countless numbers of hands waving to the people lining the street each had a smile that said, "Can this be real?" They were in complete shock. Most of them were brought to tears. Those veterans finally got the homecoming the deeply deserved.

None of this could have been possible without the volunteers. I would like to thank a few people for their hard work. Soozi Williams, Mary Ann Arnold, Zack Tucker, Linda O'Dell. If you see those guys around town, say thank you to them, because they did a lot to serve their community. A special thanks goes to Colonel Clarence Overbay. This man is absolutely impossible to keep up with. Anything that anybody needed he was there and would find someway to get it to you. He was remarkable. Also, a huge thanks goes to Danny and Barbara Adams and their daughter Claire. Without these three people, we would not have had The Wall here. They worked on bringing the wall here for close to two years. That was one long and hard accomplishment, but they always worked together and got it here. A thank you goes to all of the other volunteers that I didn't mention. You really made a difference in mine and everyone else's life.

This event really united the town of Marked Tree. We all worked together. Businesses painted their windows with patriotic flags and some even posted pictures of the Poinsett 16 on their buildings. Thank you to all who came out to see the wall and take in it's glory.

It was definitely an experience I will treasure for many years to come. May God bless you!

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