By Charlotte Byus,
Back many years ago, I worked for Brown & Root’s Credit Union. Employees were encouraged to participate in the activities of our parent company. One of the Brown & Root clubs was the Volunteer Association. We worked downtown festivals, hospitals and many other events. One year, a man from the VA Hospital came to our company to ask for assistance with the Vietnam Veterans’ Traveling Memorial, the largest traveling Vietnam wall replica. In order to work or volunteer for the event you had to go to special classes with Doctors from the VA. Volunteers were required to take two preparation classes. Needless to say, these classes were very informative, but a little over my head.

The day came for the event in downtown Houston, the sun was shining, there was a slight breeze and it was a perfect day to be outside. There were tents set up for us with tables, chairs and directories. These directories were full of names of people on the wall. There were several criteria to help you find someone: their High School, their home town or the unit they served with. We could look them up by name, but with commonality of names, sometimes more information was necessary.

The day proved to be very difficult for everyone and emotionally draining. Moms would bring their adult children to find their Daddy’s name, and friends from High School and college would gather to find their friend’s name. Everyone had a story to tell and many did not know how to share their story or their grief. Our job was to direct them to the spot on the wall where they could find the name. Our job was to listen with open hearts and ears. That truly was a difficult thing to do. VA employees stood near the Wall to assist in finding names and to help the people deal with their sorrow.

Our Brown & Root teams worked in pairs. I paired up with a good friend who, like me, loved to laugh and have a good time. This was not one of those days.

A man, obviously struggling with the task at hand, came up to the tables several times, and frustrated, would leave again. Finally he approached one of us with his list. There were six or eight names on his list. The names were from all over the country, so my teammate and I had quite a bit of research to do. These men were in his helicopter unit. As I remember his story, he fell jumping onto the helicopter as it was taking off and he broke his leg. He could not join them on their mission. They left without him and they never came back. My teammate walked over to the Wall with this gentleman and introduced him to the psychologist who worked at the VA Hospital in Houston. The psychologist, with some counseling, was finally able to work with the Veteran on the issue of his pain and guilt and help him find all the names of his friends.

What an inspiration, this doctor and this Veteran – If they could do it, so could I. After my shift was over, I grabbed a hand full of tissues and headed over to the Wall to start looking up the names of my friends from High School and College.

Veterans – because of your determination and service to our country to keep us safe and free, I can write this article from my heart.

THANK YOU AND GOD BLESS