Archaeology Magazine - November/December 1993 - 193

WSM

Archaeology
by JACK
A National Park Service
/%
ranger examines a
/ 1 mangled Ml 6 clip
«Á. JL left at the base of
the Vietnam
Veterans
in
Memorial Wall
Washington, DC. A note explains
that in November 1966 an
American soldier in Vietnam had removed it from
the dead body of his best
friend, John P. Fitzpatrick.
Today the clip is kept in a
in Lanham,
warehouse
Maryland, along with more
than 30,000 other mementos
left at the Wall. Here in a
vast holding room are boxes
upon boxes filled with the
artifacts of war and the Vietnam experience - purple
hearts, rifles, helmets, grenade pins, flak-jackets,
Zippo
lighters, knives, and C-rations,
along with more personal items
such as toys, jewelry, photographs,
paintings, fishing poles, canned
goods, 8-track tapes, cigarettes,
and whiskey.
The donors are friends and relatives of the dead, whose names, almost 60,000 in all, are inscribed on
the black granite panels that stand
in a wooded park near the Lincoln
Memorial. Even before it was officially dedicated on November 13,
1982, the Memorial was visited by
pilgrims who left behind matchbook
covers and popsicle sticks inscribed
with the names of soldiers honored
there. Since then, the offerings have
become more abundant and more
elaborate. Some - a cheerleading
pompon, bicycle tire inner tubes, for
example - are hard to decipher.
Others offer poignant personal
commentaries on the war. A can of
Colt 45 malt liquor bears the note:
"Hey Bro - Here's the beer I owe
you, 24 years late. You were right. I
did make it back to the world. Great
seeing you again. Sorry not to be
96 Archaeology

Grief

McDONALD

through June 1994. Personal
Legacy also includes eyewitness accounts of battles, casualty reports, and F-4100
correspondence, the "We regret to inform you" letters
written to the parents of soldiers killed in action. Felton
is also assisting in the building of a computer database
that will allow researchers
not only to read about the
objects, but also to see
three-dimensional images of
them. He relies on his considerable knowledge of the
Vietnam War to identify objects left at the Wall. When
an unusual object such as an
obscure emblem or badge is
BY PHILIP ANDERSON
ILLUSTRATION
recovered, he enlists the
help of a network of veterans
with you, but I'll be along soon."
and historians.
"The way the objects are being
Zippo lighters - also used by servicemen as makeshift flashlights
cataloged, with their etched poems
and leech removers - have been
and accompanying letters or testileft at the Wall by the hundreds,
monials, future archaeologists will be
with inscriptions like "Fighter by able to investigate the emotional
side of war," says Bob Sonderman,
day, lover by night" and "Make
not
war."
One
bears
an
Senior Staff Archaeologist for the
love,
earthy
on
the
Psalm:
National
Park Service, who serves as
23rd
improvisation
I
walk
the
an
advisor
to the project. "A strange
"Yea, though
through
of
the
shadow
of
I
death,
valley
military insignia or patch not stanshall fear no evil for I am the bad- dard issue may surface. By reviewing
dest motherf - r in the valley."
the database, an archaeologist may
Some soldiers sketched the borders
discover the name of the unit, where
of Vietnam on their lighters, and it served, and possibly the names of
marked with their unit insignia the the soldiers who wore the patch." Researchers, adds Sonderman, will
places where they served.
clear
the
Memorial
of
ofbenefit
not only from studying the
Rangers
sometimes
twice
a
material
remains of the war, but also
ferings once,
day.
About 9,000 items were collected
from understanding the spirit of the
last year alone. "There's no end to time as attested by the database arthis material," says Duery Felton,
tifacts. "We never dreamed serving
who curates the objects for the Na- the people would end this way," reads
tional Park Service. Felton, an in- the note attached to the bag Charles
fantryman wounded in Vietnam, re- Mooney once used for his newspaper
cently selected 1,500 of the objects delivery route. "God bless you. Rest
for an exhibition called Personal in Peace."
Legacy: The Healing of a Nation on display at the Smithsonian's National Jack McDonald is a freelancejourMuseum of American
nalist basedin Washington, DC.
History

Archaeology Magazine - November/December 1993

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