California XLV

This is the 55th post I have made from California. When I started this project in 2009, I thought I might post four pictures of memorials from each state.

Circumstances changed all that and now 55 from California, amazing to me.

It is fitting I suppose as California with its nearly 40 million in population is, perhaps not surprisingly, the state that lost the most of her citizens. More than 350,000 served and 5,822 were killed. These numbers vary a bit depending on whose source you read.

Today, we return to the Nixon Library, a place I never thought I would see, to visit an exhibit about bringing home the POWs. It is quite extensive and interesting. You can see previous visits here and here.

With the publication of Kristin Hannah's book The Women which tells story of the heroics of the Nurses in Vietnam, I have been thinking more lately about how women served, participated, and influenced our efforts in the war.

This brought me to this table, in a corner, at the library.

It shines a light on the efforts of the wives of the POWs, their efforts to bring home their husbands, brothers, Uncles: our comrades.

It may be impossible to ever know exactly just how much influence or weight these efforts may have had upon the history of and the lives of our captured fellows, but, most certainly, it helped.

Our gratitude and debt to these can never be overestimated.

Next time, on the 7th of March, we will return to Colorado, so join me there, as usual, at 9:00 am.

To see Vietnam memorials from any state or Canada, Ireland, and Puerto Rico click on the individual names on the left side of this page.

If you are following along at all, you will have seen that a number of you, like Joan from Wisconsin, Tony from Texas, Mike from Maryland, Ron from Florida, Tim from Virginia and Molly from Florida, Colleen from Pennsylvania, and Elli from Maryland, among others, have responded to my request to send me memorials you have seen in your area or where you may have traveled. I even got one from Ireland! These submissions help expand the knowledge of how we have remembered the men and women who served or were lost in 'Nam and you help to honor them. If you have any such photos, I would love to see them. Please send them along to the email at the left and I will gladly share them here. Thanks, once again, to all who have contributed.