Monday, August 13, 2007
MIA-POW Bracelets--UPDATE!
I knew Jen would know the name of her MIA/POW: Captain Peter Sherman of the US Navy.
Bonus! She still has her bracelet:
We were IMing about it this morning and she said:
Mine was a Navy Man that Died in Vietnam....when we were at the wall I found his name and talked to one of the people there who told me where to look on the wall and that he was a navy guy...made me cry
So I looked up the The Vietnam Veteran's Memorial Wall site online and found this info:
PETER WOODBURY SHERMAN
CAPT - O6 - Navy - Regular
Length of service 22 years
Casualty was on Oct 17, 1973
In , NORTH VIETNAM
Hostile, died while missing, FIXED WING - PILOT
AIR LOSS, CRASH ON LAND
Body was recovered
You can click through to this page to add personal rememberances or photos. There are three there for Captain Sherman and these comments brought tears to my eyes.
I'm writing this post while I'm clicking through the Vietnam Memorial Wall site (Live blogging my blogging, I guess) and just found this page about Bracelets. Here is a history of the bracelets (quick read) which was an idea of a college student and became a national program. And even more amazing, if you have a bracelet you want to return, you can go here to see if the family is looking for it. There are 8 people listed saying they have Peter Sherman's bracelet with their email addresses. What if they all became pen-pals with my sister and they shared their memories about who they are and where they were when they got the bracelets?
Jen would have to tell it in her own words, and I've never been to the Vietnam Memorial (I've haven't been to DC yet) so I imagine that the experience is intense to begin with. But going to the memorial where the only person's name you might know is from a bracelet you've had for over 30 years, then finding his name and a bit more information about him, must be wonderful and sad. What a connection.
I'm an old sentimental softy. No argument from me there. I just love this kind of thing, the stories, the connections, the history. The internets and all the people behind each page, are amazing.
Thanks for sharing, Jen!
Bonus! She still has her bracelet:
We were IMing about it this morning and she said:
Mine was a Navy Man that Died in Vietnam....when we were at the wall I found his name and talked to one of the people there who told me where to look on the wall and that he was a navy guy...made me cry
So I looked up the The Vietnam Veteran's Memorial Wall site online and found this info:
PETER WOODBURY SHERMAN
CAPT - O6 - Navy - Regular
Length of service 22 years
Casualty was on Oct 17, 1973
In , NORTH VIETNAM
Hostile, died while missing, FIXED WING - PILOT
AIR LOSS, CRASH ON LAND
Body was recovered
You can click through to this page to add personal rememberances or photos. There are three there for Captain Sherman and these comments brought tears to my eyes.
I'm writing this post while I'm clicking through the Vietnam Memorial Wall site (Live blogging my blogging, I guess) and just found this page about Bracelets. Here is a history of the bracelets (quick read) which was an idea of a college student and became a national program. And even more amazing, if you have a bracelet you want to return, you can go here to see if the family is looking for it. There are 8 people listed saying they have Peter Sherman's bracelet with their email addresses. What if they all became pen-pals with my sister and they shared their memories about who they are and where they were when they got the bracelets?
Jen would have to tell it in her own words, and I've never been to the Vietnam Memorial (I've haven't been to DC yet) so I imagine that the experience is intense to begin with. But going to the memorial where the only person's name you might know is from a bracelet you've had for over 30 years, then finding his name and a bit more information about him, must be wonderful and sad. What a connection.
I'm an old sentimental softy. No argument from me there. I just love this kind of thing, the stories, the connections, the history. The internets and all the people behind each page, are amazing.
Thanks for sharing, Jen!
Permalink posted by Julia @ 8/13/2007 05:19:00 PM 
