With Veteran's Day approaching this Friday I wanted to get out and make a visit to the resting place of Donald Steven Waite, the local 101st Airborne soldier who I have been following on this blog through most of 2011. I knew that he was buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery here in Omaha, so with some quick hunting on the internet I got a pretty good idea of where he was located at in the cemetery. Once I entered Forest Lawn Cemetery, that became a whole different story - the place is huge and just keeps going and going. I must have driven around for 10 minutes looking for the "Garden of the Apostles" until I finally stumbled upon it. Once I found that section of land, it was easy for me to locate his grave. Wow. It felt kind of mind-numbing that I was finally here. I have been following this man's story for the better part of two years. I had dedicated my Vietnam War exhibit to him back in 2010, an event where I met his mother for the first time. I had written about him on this blog, finally tracking down a photo of him and retracing his story. I had seen his name on a traveling Vietnam Wall in Omaha and then traced his name with my fingers at the actual Vietnam Wall in Washington DC this past May. And now here I stood. Face to face with his final resting place. It felt very surreal... just envisioning his life... his training and journey to Vietnam... his time there and what he meant to his comrades... and then his death and his body coming back home to Nebraska. And then I just spent some time thinking about the 43 years of peace and solitude on this quiet little piece of land that have passed. I was thinking about all of the things that he has missed, all of the things and events that he never got to enjoy or be a part of. It was a beautiful day today - sunny with a crispness to the air. The autumn leaves blowing in the wind. It was one of those days today that I enjoy so much... and I just wish Donnie could have been around to enjoy a day like this too. God Bless you Donnie. And thank you once again for your service and your sacrifice on this Veteran's Day.
