On the line
Posted: Tuesday, November 13, 2007 6:01 PM by Sam Singal
By Brian Williams, Anchor and managing editor
We're at the Chrysler assembly plant just outside Detroit tonight, where every 68 seconds, someone's steel dream with a hemi engine rolls off the line. It's a mesmerizing thing to watch, and we'll talk tonight about a big experiment in the car business: a private firm has taken over Chrysler, and they're trying to transform the way they build cars and trucks in the process. We'll talk about the economy, the environmental outrage story of the day, as well as Justice Sandra Day O'Connor (and the story that has her back in the news). We'll also have the story of a very special military veteran. And while we're on the subject of veterans, my colleague Andy Franklin offers the following, on an anniversary worth remembering.
The Wall
Americans these days may be deeply divided over the war in Iraq, but those who do not support the war seldom make the mistake of not supporting the warrior – that is, of supporting and honoring the men and women who serve our country in the armed forces overseas. It seems so obvious, but it’s a lesson this country had to re-learn the hard way, during and after the war in Vietnam – a war that to this day offers no shortage of hard lessons.
Sadly, many who opposed America’s involvement in Vietnam neglected the actual Americans who went there – those who went through hell and then came back home to hostility or indifference. Passions about Vietnam were so inflamed that it took years for the country as a whole to recognize that an injustice had been done. A turning point in that process – a true moment of healing and reconciliation – took place 25 years ago today, with the dedication of the Vietnam Memorial on the Washington Mall on November 13, 1982.
What made that day so extraordinary was not simply the dedication ceremony itself, but the fact that it was the culmination of years of effort by Americans who came together across political and generational lines to do the right thing. What was even more remarkable was that it worked. There were fears that Maya Lin’s controversial design would re-open old wounds: a V-shaped granite gash in the ground, inscribed with the names of America’s 58,000 dead. Instead, the memorial almost instantly became a place where Americans – and especially Vietnam veterans – could come together. We touch the Wall, and it touches us.
25 years ago today, long after their war had ended, Vietnam veterans were given something that had largely been denied them: recognition of their service, acknowledgement of their sacrifice, and finally, a simple thank-you from a country that had sent them to do a dangerous, unpopular job a long way from home. And on that chilly Saturday afternoon a quarter-century ago, they got something else that was too long in coming. Thousands of veterans from around the country who had gathered in Washington for the dedication ceremony got the chance, at long last, to march in a parade, and to hear the air filled with cheers of gratitude and respect. Years after leaving Vietnam, they were finally home.
We look forward to having you join us for tonight's broadcast.
