As a member of Veterans For Peace, Chapter 161, Iowa City we were asked to write letters to the Vietnam veterans whose names are on the Wall in Washington, D.C. These letters were to be delivered on Memorial Day 2015 and placed near the name. The envelope was to be left open and visitors were encouraged to read them. This is my letter to Bob Harvey and Willard Friese, Walter’s older brother.
This past March was the 50th anniversary of the start of the Vietnam War and the Pentagon is spending nearly 65 million dollars to whitewash the war. From the lies of the Tonkin Gulf incident to the My Lai massacre now dubbed the “My Lai incident”, this report re-writes the history of the Vietnam War to one that those of us who were involved would not recognize.
I would like to mention two young men from Washington County who died in Vietnam. I first became aware of the war when a boy in my Junior class homeroom, Walter Friese, was told that his brother, Willard John Friese, age 19, was killed in Vietnam in March 1966. He had only been in the country 2 months. No one knew what to say to Walter. We had never had anything like this happen to us. Going to ‘Nam’ was supposed to be patriotic. I guess it was not so patriotic to Walter and his family.
To Bob Harvey who graduated with me in 1967-You joined the Marine Corps right after graduation, about the same time that I did. You were always such a fun loving goofball. I remember you at a basketball game a few weeks before you were going to Vietnam. You were so sure of yourself and proud to be going. You made it 10 months before we learned of your death in August 1968.
Willard Friese is on Panel 6 of the Vietnam Wall: Bob Harvey is on Panel 49. Between those two panels, in that span of two years, represents a lot of killing and dying. Over 58,000 military men and women and several million Vietnamese died in that war.
If only I had known then what I know now. I joined the Marine Corps because I thought it was the patriotic thing to do to serve your county. As a woman, I couldn’t be sent to Vietnam to serve. I didn’t think very much about what it meant to be in Vietnam except killing “g--ks”. Oh, the arrogance of it all!
And sadly, 50 years later we haven’t learned much from that experience except to start more endless wars.
Stephen Wolfer
Such a gentle caring person should have had a longer and happier life.
Mary Engel (Martin)
April 24, 2015
As a member of Veterans For Peace, Chapter 161, Iowa City we were asked to write letters to the Vietnam veterans whose names are on the Wall in Washington, D.C. These letters were to be delivered on Memorial Day 2015 and placed near the name. The envelope was to be left open and visitors were encouraged to read them. This is my letter to Bob Harvey and Willard Friese, Walter’s older brother.
This past March was the 50th anniversary of the start of the Vietnam War and the Pentagon is spending nearly 65 million dollars to whitewash the war. From the lies of the Tonkin Gulf incident to the My Lai massacre now dubbed the “My Lai incident”, this report re-writes the history of the Vietnam War to one that those of us who were involved would not recognize.
I would like to mention two young men from Washington County who died in Vietnam. I first became aware of the war when a boy in my Junior class homeroom, Walter Friese, was told that his brother, Willard John Friese, age 19, was killed in Vietnam in March 1966. He had only been in the country 2 months. No one knew what to say to Walter. We had never had anything like this happen to us. Going to ‘Nam’ was supposed to be patriotic. I guess it was not so patriotic to Walter and his family.
To Bob Harvey who graduated with me in 1967-You joined the Marine Corps right after graduation, about the same time that I did. You were always such a fun loving goofball. I remember you at a basketball game a few weeks before you were going to Vietnam. You were so sure of yourself and proud to be going. You made it 10 months before we learned of your death in August 1968.
Willard Friese is on Panel 6 of the Vietnam Wall: Bob Harvey is on Panel 49. Between those two panels, in that span of two years, represents a lot of killing and dying. Over 58,000 military men and women and several million Vietnamese died in that war.
If only I had known then what I know now. I joined the Marine Corps because I thought it was the patriotic thing to do to serve your county. As a woman, I couldn’t be sent to Vietnam to serve. I didn’t think very much about what it meant to be in Vietnam except killing “g--ks”. Oh, the arrogance of it all!
And sadly, 50 years later we haven’t learned much from that experience except to start more endless wars.
Sincerely,
Mary Martin
Member of Veterans For Peace
Chapter 161, Iowa City
Washington, IA