Let me vent here. The so-called "memorial" to the Vietnam War is nothing but an insult to those who died as well as those who survived. A black-lined ditch, a hole in the ground; as one critic has correctly labeled it, "A black gash of shame and sorrow." It is not a tribute to anyone or anything except the media view of the war. I was one of the first contributors to its construction; when the plans were finally released I was set back on my heels and have been seething about it for decades. It is a studied, deliberate, and grievous insult to me and mostly to the men with whom I served.