IN OUR MEMORIES

WASILLA — There are more than 58,000 names of fallen soldiers etched on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in our nation’s capitol. Left off the granite monument however are the names of countless veterans who died after coming home.

They died from Agent Orange poisoning years later. They died by their own hands after suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Some of them died without anyone noticing after being homeless for years.

For many Vietnam veterans, there’s something very wrong with that. There’s something wrong with the government’s attitude that the wounds those veterans suffered were not a result of combat and therefore do not deserve to be recognized, they say.

Some of those veterans who now live in the Mat-Su and Anchorage gathered at the Valley’s Veterans Wall of Honor next to the Mat-Su Visitor’s Center Monday night to hold the first In-Memory Day ceremony by any state since the ceremonies began in Washington, D.C., 12 years ago on the third Monday of April — the same day as Patriots Day.

The personal project of Vietnam vet Bob “Joker” Lupo, chaplain for the Vietnam Veterans Motorcycle Club, the ceremony included a proclamation of Alaska’s In-Memory Day by Gov. Sean Parnell, two poems by Lupo and a keynote speech by Congressman Don Young.

“The ceremony is meant to assist friends and relatives with closure and to let them know that we honor, respect and shall forever remember the sacrifices of these fallen warriors,” Lupo wrote on the inside of the program handed out to about 40 fellow veterans, wives and friends.

Lupo was inspired to bring the ceremony to Alaska after stumbling on it while visiting Washington, D.C., four years ago. He had written a poem he titled “Emotions” after attempting to play “Taps” on his bugle for a fallen comrade at Fort Richardson and failing to hit the high note because he had became so choked up.

“I was so upset, I vowed never to play ‘Taps’ again,” he said. “But it led to this poem, which later led to asking Sen. Lisa Murkowski if I could read the poem at the Veteran’s Memorial on Veteran’s Day in Washington, D.C.”

Although Murkowski told him they get thousands of requests to be a part of that ceremony and the one on Memorial Day, she suggested he instead take part in the In-Memory Day ceremony at The Wall in D.C.

“I hadn’t even heard of it before,” he said Monday before heading off to set up for the local ceremony he hopes will set a precedent for similar remembrances in other states.

In “Emotions,” Lupo pays homage to those who suffered invisible wounds.

“Not all wounds are visible, like Post-Traumatic Stress, That’s why some who return are very depressed,” the 44-line poem states. “Awakening in anguish, from nightmares of war, sweating and shaking, they cry out ‘No more!’ As they lie there in agony, with their souls laid bare, take hold of them gently. Show them you care.”

Lupo also shared his poem “The Greatest Honor” as his benediction. In that poem, he reveals his pride as a veteran and the peace he feels knowing he will be laid to rest with others who served their country.

Having turned 70 in January and missing a few things such as a kidney and most of his hearing, Lupo holds fast to the words of one of his favorite college professors: “Never let the seeds keep you from enjoying the watermelon.”

Joining Lupo Monday were people like Ann Bailey, widow of Vietnam vet and Wasilla resident Maurice “Mo” Bailey. Bailey, who lost his battle with leukemia last summer at age 71, was instrumental in helping veterans in the Bush by flying supplies to them and was remembered by Sen. Mark Begich through a speech delivered for him by C.W. Floyd.

“Mo Bailey would have been very, very proud to see the efforts here tonight,” Begich wrote. Then a moment of silence was called for Bailey.

Ann Bailey said she was very touched by that.

Also among those in the crowd was Vietnam vet Ed “Moon” Mullen, a Valley resident who’d been drafted to Vietnam when he was 19 in 1969. He said he felt the need to attend the ceremony to honor those lost after the war.

“I’d never been to this memorial before, I hate to say,” he said after the ceremony. “Vietnam vets weren’t treated the same as other veterans when we came home. We were called baby killers and whatnot, so it was hard. But our generation made a vow to make sure those who fought in wars after us didn’t have to go through what we did.

“I’m still proud to have served my country.”

Contact K.T. McKee at kate.mckee@frontiersman.com or 352-2252.