Is the new number of names engraved in the black granite panels of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Three more were added this month. Approximately 1200 of the names memorialized are listed as missing - as in MIA's, POW's, and others.
58,256.
One of the new names added, Army Sgt. Richard M. Pruett, died in 2005 as a result of the lingering effects of wounds he received during the war.
In his case, as in others, soldiers die of their wounds. Some die immediately...some decades later. The deaths are physical as well as emotional and spiritual in some cases. A testament to the resilience of the human spirit, is that while he lived with the effects of his wounds and ultimately succumbed to them, he also lived a full life, raised a family, ran a business.
It was interesting to read the news articles related to the inclusion of the new names. The ones I read didn't include the new number - 58,256 - although they did recount the bureaucracy and politics of who is included in the rollcall of the dead. Our society loves to point out the failings of the government machine that we have created...without a solution suggested.
58,256.
There will be more added in the years to come...as this generation of warriors passes.
I hope we will remember all of them.
D_
