Armed Forces Day 2010

On Saturday, May 15th, the men of the 2nd I.D. Living History Association gathered for our annual Armed Forces Day display at the Strategic Air & Space Museum. This year I spent several months putting together the beginnings of a really solid Vietnam War collection. I created an 11 foot long "Vietnam Wall" dedicated to the 395 brave Nebraskans who lost their lives in the Vietnam War. My version of the wall listed each man's rank, his hometown and branch of service, as well as his birthday and the day he was killed. It was very well received by a lot of veterans and their families. It was just my little way to say thank you to all of them for their many sacrifices made on our behalf. My display included some uniform and equipment pieces from the Advisory era, some basic U.S. Army gear, a number of personal and paperwork items, and then a nice grouping of U.S. Marine Corps uniform and equipment items. I was really excited to have an M-16 and an M-14 which I was able to borrow for the day from a really nice restoration volunteer at the museum. My special guests for the day were my mom's friend Karen McGrane and her mother. Their son/brother was SP4 Donald Steven Waite. He was a paratrooper with the 101st Airborne Division and was killed in South Vietnam on February 9, 1968. For me, this exhibit and the countless hours put into creating my Nebraska "Wall" were all dedicated to Donnie... a soldier who I will never meet, but to whom I owe a huge debt of gratitude.