I took this photo many years ago, but it seems appropriate to post this Memorial Day. Flowers, notes and other memorabilia, including military gear, have been left since the opening of the memorial. It is America's equivalent of the Wailing Wall.

Unfortunately, soldiers who died months, or sometimes a few years, after suffering serious wounds (head wounds, for example) aren't listed on the Wall. Their deaths were listed as non-combat, because they died of complications, even though the complications that killed them (infection, pneumonia, organ failure) were a direct result of combat wounds. That's part of the dark side of Vietnam War statistics.