I came to the Wall this overcast day, a mission I've made over and over, to think, to remember, to touch names carved in granite, to continue the healing that has taken so long. Today would be a change, since I usually come here while others sleep, in the quite of the night, when it's just you, your thoughts, your memories, and the Wall.

On this day, the 15th Anniversary of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, a simple wish of mine would become as real as the Wall itself and would touch the hearts and souls of untold numbers.

A large crowd of veterans, families, and friends, all affected by the war, gathered to remember, grieve, reunite with old comrades, or perhaps leave a gift to someone frozen in memory as "just a young kid."

Emmylou opened the services with "America", which she learned in grade school. After "Orphan Girl", a song she said "speaks to me, I hope it speaks to you" Emmylou told those assembled how honored and humbled she was to be here as part of the gathering. The war she said touched a lot of people, especially a lot of people of her generation. "Stephen Hamilton Adams...my cousin's name is on the Wall.." Emmylou introduced a song she said was written by Floyd Tilman before a lot of us were born. It came to her as she was thinking about what to sing for this very unique day, and Emmylou described it as "a love song...I like to think of it today as a love song sung from those that we are remembering to those that are doing the remembering."

Her beautiful voice ever so gently filled the air with "Remember Me", and it seemed as though our lost ones were calling to us. There were tears, soft smiles, many bowed heads. She never fails to find the right words and song.

General Barry R. McCaffrey, USA Ret., and James V. Kimsey, Chairman Emeritus, America Online, both Vietnam Veterans spoke on why we were here today and why we should never let our involvement in a war like Vietnam ever happen again without the full support of the American people. The horrible, familiar statistics that will never go away: 3 1/2 million Americans served in southeast Asia; 303,000 were wounded; 80,000 are still severely disabled. 58,209 names of those killed or missing are carved in the Wall, and over 40 MILLION people are closely related to those names, the wounded, and the disabled. The Genereal reminded us that "the suffering has not ended yet".

As I listened to Ann Cunningham RN, who served two tours of duty in Vietnam, tell about how she distanced herself from the experience and her feelings afterwards, it sounded like a replay of myself. Like Ann, for me it "...was the best of times and the worst of times and it took 15 years to talk about it..." Like Ann, "...when the Wall was dedicated I was not even aware of its existence because if it had Vietnam written on it I didn't watch it or read it..."

After years of indifference to the past, and stunned with a numbness I couldn't break, I turned to music, perhaps unaware I was looking to find some measure of peace. Emmylou was the touchstone and beacon guiding my musical journey. In time something reached deep inside my soul. I found a start on the long road to "coming home". I then began to move through a difficult healing process that couldn't have happened without the Wall. A short time after my first visit there, I heard Jamie O'Hara's "50,000 Names" which moved me in many difficult but necessary directions. Like the Wall itself, it became a vital part of my healing.

As time passed I started to wish that someday, this simple, touching song could be heard by more than just those exposed to Jamie's music. People deeply affected by the war who already know the Wall have experienced the feelings the song portrays. Most who make the journey find a way to heal some of the scars worn so long on their hearts.

I wished those who haven't made the journey could hear the song, perhaps be able to experience a needed release of emotion, an acknowledgement of the pain, a beginning of the healing.

After a reading of "Flanders Field", Emmylou and Jamie O'Hara were introduced by Jan Scruggs. Emmylou said when she was invited to come here she was honored and she wanted to bring a gift. "..there is a very special song that Jamie wrote about the Wall , about the Vietnam experience, that has moved me very much and I couldn't think of a better gift than the song, the only better gift was to bring Jamie himself to sing it for you". Emmylou introduced her dear friend Jamie O'Hara, who said, like Emmylou, he was deeply honored and deeply humbled to be here and he began his song, "50,000 Names".

{ The simple, but moving words were sung in almost a hushed tone by Jamie, with Emmylou softly harmonizing on the chorus.

I saw in faces young and old the 'newness' of the song but like so very many others, they were quickly moved to tears. As I looked at those around me listening to the words of healing, and crying at the memories I knew Jamie's words were now a part of the lives of many, many thousands of affected families and friends, from those gathered at the services to those watching on C-SPAN.

The crowd rose and applauded respectfully, calling out to Jamie from every corner, over and over, "Thank you, thank you, thank you."

The war, the search for inner peace, the healing process, the beacon, the song, these significant forces in my life all came together today on this hallowed ground. Thank you Jamie for your very special song. Thank you Emmylou, my friend, for bringing your special gift to the Wall.

Gary Vizioli
Vietnam 1967-1968

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