Posted by
EWRoss on Tuesday, July 07, 2009 7:00:00 AM
Two events dominate the news this week, Sarah Palin’s resignation and the continuing coverage of Michael Jackson’s death and funeral service. Both are newsworthy events that, unfortunately, commentators, entertainers, and pundits will talk about ad infinitum. Two other events this week will receive only scant attention in the media. One is the death Monday of former defense secretary and architect of the Vietnam War, Robert McNamara. The other is the commemoration Wednesday at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial of the 50th anniversary of the first American combat casualties in the Vietnam War. US Army Master Sgt. Chester Ovnand and MAJ Dale Buis died on July 8, 1959, when their compound was attacked by North Vietnamese communists. Theirs are the first two names on the Wall. These latter two events may not warrant the news coverage Palin and Jackson receive, but they are worth noting. They mark the beginning, and perhaps the end, of a 50-year American Odyssey that was far more controversial than either Palin or Jackson. For Vietnam War combat veterans like myself, Ovnand, Buis, and McNamara’s deaths give us pause to reflect. Sometime this week, whether you’re watching someone pontificate about Palin, eulogize about Jackson, or something altogether different, take a moment to think about the 58,000 men and women whose names are inscribed on the Wall. It will help you put things in perspective.