I still remember that poor woman who came up to me the day we were rededicating our wall and said she wanted to thank me for including her son's name on the new pillars that we included in our new Memorial Plaza. She was wearing some kind of a sign with her son's name on it. I was busy and a bit distracted by the events going on around me and I said to her in a bit of a dismissive way, "No thanks is necessary". "What's your son's name?". It was then that I noticed that this woman was wearing the other sign on her back. She told me she had two son's whose names we placed on our memorial. I felt at that moment like I has been hit with a ton of bricks as the reality hit of the loss this poor woman suffered. If it wasn't for my wife who saw the expression on my face, calling me, distracting me, I think I would have lost it. To this day, I am bothered by that event. No Children, No grandchildren, No Valentine cards, NADA, just memories. What a damn shame. 

                                                                                                                     Joe Graham, President VVA Chapter 126