Friday, May 22, 2015 – Ralph M Smith, Corporal, United States Army, Vietnam Conflict – May 31, 1948 – October* 27, 1969

Friday, May 22, 2015 – Ralph M Smith, Corporal, United States Army, Vietnam Conflict – May 31, 1948 – October 27, 1969*

In 1997 on a trip to Washington D.C., I toured the monuments.  While I had seen most of them before, on this trip I saw one monument in a different light and from a new perspective. Upon returning to my hotel room that night, I wrote this letter.

May 1997

Dear Mr. Smith,

We never had an opportunity to meet. However, a friend of yours asked me to find you while I am visiting Washington D. C.  And so, I gaze along this wall of black granite. Somewhere your name is listed amidst the 58,208 others. I’ve seen this wall before. This is the second time I have actually come to find a name.

I was told you were from a small west Texas town. Colorado City, I…