The Names Of Fallen Soldiers
This column was written by CBS News Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith.
Wednesday morning in Washington, D.C., they started reading the names on the Vietnam Memorial -- more than 58,000 names.
The memorial is 25 years old and it's the most visited place in Washington. I go there often and when I do, I look for the name Richard Schroeder.
Schroeder went to my high school. He was a wrestler; nicknamed Moose. He served as a corpsman in Vietnam and was killed when he volunteered to go out with a marine reconnaissance unit.
Had he lived, I wonder what Dick Schroeder would be doing now. His father owned the funeral parlor in our hometown. Like other medics, he was called Doc.
Might he have become a physician?
How would America be different now if those 58,000 hadn't died?
Which one would be running for president?
Which one would have cured a baffling disease?
Which one would have my job?
We owe a lot to the people who serve. The least we can do is remember them.
Harry's daily commentary can be heard on many CBS Radio News affiliates across the country.