Happy Veteran's Day

I just came back from Orange Hunt's very special (and I believe their first, at least since Auddie's been there) Veteran's Day assembly. My only regret is that I did not bring my camera, because there is nothing like seeing hundreds of K-3 kids singing "America the Beautiful," "This Land is Your Land," and "God Bless the USA" in unison. Too cute!!! Seriously, I don't know how I'll react when it's my own kids doing these types of things. We even had seats good enough to see Max and Mira (the twinsies) joining in. This girl sitting next to Mira was that one hilarious child-- you know, she thinks no one is watching as she sings, and every single word she would sing with this jaw-dropping intensity. Oh, so much to take away from an elementary school assembly. It brought me right back. The way the SCA reps/officers rule the school and get to do important things like introduce the program; the way the kids in band think they are badasses (I mean, they are though, kind of-- at least the drummers) but somehow within 5 years they'll just be geeks; and the way so many of the teachers have not changed a bit since I was in school, yet somehow everything else has changed so much (rock climbing walls in the gymnasium!).

As a tribute on this Veteran's Day, Nov. 11, 2004, below I have published one of my favorite poems written by my grandpa. It's an oldie but always a goodie. Enjoy!


The Wall

It's not the wall of fear of the Kremlin,
It's not the wall of shame of East Berlin.
Neither the 10-thousand-mile Chinese Great Wall
Nor the Wall of Lamentation at all.
A Common black marble wall of fame
Filled with fifty-eight thousand names.
Fifty-eight thousand knights of Democracy,
Fifty-eight thousand fighters against tyranny,
Crossing all over jungles, rice-fields and towns
For the "No-win policy" they had fallen down,
Everyday flowers are offered to the undaunted heroes
Who are remembered even by their foes.
Their names shine in the Capital murk,
Their remains rest in the inner earth.
The sun shines and reflects on their soul,
Immortal and brave, and worshipped by all.


D.C. 1988
The Viet-Nam Memorial

by Ha Binh Trung