Today was a day when I realized again that the things we do in life have a ripple effect on people. While working on the Wall, I met many wonderful, special people. One of these guys was a veteran who served 3 tours in Vietnam. His name is Dan. He came yesterday and spoke to my students. Long story short...It was a beautiful experience. I was really proud of him because he has started on his journey of healing by wanting to talk to my students. My students were really supportive of him and asked wonderful questions that showed they were really eager to learn about his experiences.
Today, he called me to tell me how much he felt "changed" as a result of talking to my students. He said he has started to feel whole, worthy and proud of his service. He also said that while he was volunteering at the Wall, he talked to about 5 visitors and discovered that not only had he done business with them for years, he also discovered that they were Vietnam vets also. Like him, they had closed off that period of their life. They also discovered that they also had served during the same time and at the same base and they never knew it until the Wall visit!
Also, during the Walk with Heroes today, my kids talked almost constantly about how they never knew there was so much to learn about Vietnam. They were surprised about how interested they were in it! They were like detectives or bloodhounds when it came to searching out the specific gravesites. We were there about 3 hours because they didn't want to leave!
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