There is no way to visit Central Vietnam without being aware of the import of where you are. Walking through Hue yesterday we passed a poorly dressed man selling scrap metal on the street. I was stunned to see, mixed amongst his goods, these dog tags. He says they find them often in the countryside...
After we walked on, we found that we kept coming back to the subject. Were they real? Do we assume they are fake and then walk off, always wondering if there really was a Michael Bland (whose tag I had held and turned over and over) and whether he'd survived or died in these green fields? Perhaps, we decided, we should take them home, visit the wall, see if the names are there--and attempt to return them to the men themselves, or to their families. We finally decided that we had no choice--we'd take them and see if these men could be found. And if the tags are fake--well, it was a small price to pay for the peace it brought us to retrieve them...
Michael Bland
Willie Toney
Roy Cassie
R.D. Santisteven
