The following poem and introduction were written especially for the 10th Anniversary of the dedication of the Vietnam Woman's Memorial in Washington, DC.

I was privileged to be a part of the program and read the poem on Veterans Day, November 11, 2003 at the Woman's Memorial.

There are thousands of Vietnam Veterans that couldn't attend this anniversary event. Former soldiers who have been able to marry, raise children, and enjoy grandchildren because of the heroic service of military nurses in Vietnam.

If those combat wounded veterans were here, there is something they would want to say to you, whose dedication and sacrifice we celebrate today.

So, in a simple poem, and on their behalf, I would like to tell all of you, 'angels' of the Vietnam War, what they would likely tell you if they were here...

Veteran's Day, 2000
By Jerry Ewen

This storytelling program is a great idea. Only by telling our stories will our true history and the life lessons that go with it be passed along to our children and our grandchildren. For a long time, I have been angry about the sensationalized Oliver Stone Hollywood version of who we are and what we did. It's a long way from the truth, and we need to work hard so that version of us won't be passed along into...

"I've only seen one aviator killed since I've been here," my brother wrote in his last letter home, July 14, 1969. He had been in Vietnam for 3 weeks, and was trying to reassure mom. "You see, you're never alone on a mission. There's always somebody to protect you and get you out even before you hit the ground. I just don't want you to get upset because if you go down, you're only on the ground for about 3 minutes before they get you out of the area.

We have what they call a downed bird alarm in all of the hootches. Whenever a bird goes down every bird here is airborne and enroute to provide assistance in less than 2 minutes. So you see there's really nothing to ..."