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The first time I saw the Vietnam Wall was in 2000. I had gone to Washington, D.C. for a child care conference and ridden up there with a girlfriend. I remember that we parked her car on Constitution Avenue and walked up the sidewalk to the backside of The Wall. Before you go around the front side where all the names are, there is a plexi-glass stand which holds a book listing all the names engraved on the wall. It tells you what panel and line to look for for a certain name.
Even before I had stepped around the front of The Wall, before I even laid eyes on the black granite, I became very emotional. It was a though the air, the aura of the place had become something so thick and tangible. I had a lump in my throat. It was as though I was standing on sacred ground. I was realizing that my own father's name could have been in that book - on a panel of that wall.
I did know someone who lost his life during the Vietnam War. His name escapes me, but he was a young Air Force pilot from our church ward in Florida. He had flown all of his assigned number of missions, also known as sorties, and was coming home in a couple of days. However, one of his fellow pilots had gotten sick and my friend volunteered to take his flight. It was during this flight that he was shot down and didn't make it home alive.
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| Maj. Ernest L. DeSoto's name on the Vietnam Wall. |
Worn to honor and increase awareness of POW/MIA soldiers. Traditionally, these bracelets were worn until the POW returned to the United States at which time the bracelet was presented to the former prisoner.
The idea for POW bracelets originated in 1970 by two college students looking to support U.S. troops in Vietnam without being involved in the controversy of demonstrations and protests. Through their student group VIVA (Voices in Vital America), they were able to distribute millions of bracelets and other memorabilia nationwide.
I bought my bracelet shortly after Dad had left for his one-year tour to Vietnam for $2.50, if I remember. I wore mine every day for atleast five or six years when I found out my MIA soldier did not return.
http://thewall-usa.com/bracelet.asp
Ernest Leo De Soto
Colonel
Home of Record: Manning, CA
Date of birth: 12/30/1931
Service: United States Air Force
Grade at loss: O4 Rank: Colonel
Note: Promoted while in MIA status
ID No: 552329314
MOS: 1115F: Pilot Length Service: **
Unit: 390TH TAC FTR SQDN, 366TH TAC FTR WING, 7TH AF CASUALTY DATA
Start Tour: 02/28/1969
Incident Date: 04/12/1969
Casualty Date: 06/05/1979
Age at Loss: 47 (based on date declared dead)
Location: Quang Nam Province, South Vietnam
Remains: Body not recovered
Casualty Type: Hostile, died while missing
Casualty Reason: Fixed Wing - Pilot
Casualty Detail: Air loss or crash over land
ON THE WALL Panel 27W Line 062
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