Thailand-Laos-Cambodia Brotherhood
Roll Call Memorial Service
1400 Hours, 4 October 2003
Following our reading last year, I suggested to the TLCB Board that we read our full list at some appropriate location wherever we have a TLCB reunion. My feeling was that the reading of this list carries with it a subtle message. The Secret War or the Out-Country War or the War against the heartland of North Vietnam and against the North Vietnamese Logistics network through Laos and Cambodia was not without significant sacrifice. We’ve learned over the years that the out-country war was not well understood by those at home in America and by many who served throughout Southeast Asia.
Our reading lists contain more than 1,650 names of Americans who died in Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia, or while assigned to these countries. I’m guessing the full list would be on the order of 2,000 names as we’re still missing most of the F-4 pilots, for example, who launched out of Ubon RTAFB or Udorn RTAFB and never came back from North Vietnam.
I am including an album of pictures representing what the Roll-Call Memorial was like. I also am adding a list of the names we read for nearly two hours on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. As you browse the list of names, I’d ask you to consider another aspect you may have never thought of before. The ranks of the more than 58,000 names on The Wall were swollen by probably at least 2,000, which came from among the tens of thousands of men and women who served in Thailand, Laos, and/or Cambodia. That 2,000 stands as a huge sacrifice. But recognize, also, that if it weren’t for those tens of thousands who helped carry the war to North Vietnam and the Ho Chi Minh Trail, the Wall in Washington, D.C. would have had to be much bigger.
Some Gave All. . . . All Gave Some.
Photo Album of the 2003 Roll-Call Memorial Reading