Taps -- Jack Wheeler

The Vietnam Memorial, or more simply, The Wall, has served as my place of remembrance, solace and at times my own Wailing Wall since its dedication in 1982.

The Wall also stands as a rebuke to the neglect this country showed those who, like me, served in Vietnam. It was built not by a grateful nation, but by the veterans themselves, led by Jan Scruggs and Jack Wheeler, who was found murdered New Year's Eve.

Jan definitely had the dream for the The Wall, but Jack had the drive and the contacts to make it happen, bringing a passion that burned bright like the first star of the night to Jan's dream.

The first stanza of Taps -- that haunting bugle call played at the funeral of a fallen warrior -- serves as good a remembrance to Jack as any:

Fading light dims the sight

And a star gems the sky, gleaming bright

From afar drawing nigh,

Falls the night

Bob Brewin served with the United States Marine Corps in Vietnam, 1965/1966.