"Paying My Respects"

This Sunday, August 29th, 2004, I was at the Long Island National Cemetery, Farmingdale Long Island, New York, to pay my respects to Robert Alicea.

"PFC Robert Alicea", B Company, 720th MP Battalion, gave the ultimate sacrifice when he died in Vietnam on October 1, 1968. He was interred on October 14, 1968 in Section H Grave 9945.

A short distance away, I was surprised to find another MP.

"PFC Daniel Joseph Flynn", C Company, 720th MP Battalion, gave the ultimate sacrifice when he died in Vietnam on May 25, 1968. He was interred on June 6, 1968 in Section Q Grave 1764-B.

This is the first time that I visited a National Cemetery. I was very impressed with the care and respect for our Veterans’ that are buried here. The grass and grave sites are kept in perfect order. The headstones are clean and bright in the sunlight. Row upon row of identical shape and size, 324,000 headstones, all exactly on line. It looked like soldiers standing at attention in military formation. I had a feeling of serenity and sadness.

On my cap I wore my 720th MP Battalion insignia pin that I wore in Vietnam, and had with me in Manhattan, NY on 9/11.

I stood at attention at Robert Alicea’s  and then Daniel Joseph Flynn’s grave. I blew my MP whistle that I had with me in Vietnam. I gave a prayer of thanks to Robert Alicea and then to Daniel Joseph Flynn for their ultimate sacrifice for me, their comrades, friends and families.

I read the following poems:

From the 720th MP Battalion Vietnam Project Honor Roll;

They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old.
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

From “A Soldier of the Great War,”  Mark Halprin;

“The war was still in him, and it would be in him for a long time to come, for soldiers who have been blooded are soldiers forever. They never fit in… That they cannot forget, they do not forget, that they will never allow themselves to heal completely, is their way of expressing their love for friends who have perished. And they will not change because they have become what they have become to keep the fallen alive.”

From the Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial Wall;

“Look deeply into my black granite face and see yourself in the reflection-your face superimposed on names. Never forget the names-for they hold the answer.”

From “Visions of War, Dreams of Peace” Edited by Lynda Van Devanter & Joan Furey. Poems written by women who served in Vietnam. “Making Friends” Lynda Van Devanter;

Twenty years since my life was changed
Twenty years making a friend of death
Knowing it
Respecting it
Wishing it at times
Fighting with it as friends sometimes do.
But the nightmares of war have faded as I’ve healed
My dreams are now of peace
Peace of mind
Peace of heart
Hoping for peace on earth
It’s time I made a friend of Life.

SP/4 Allan M. Portnoy, B Company & 615th MP Company, 720th MP Battalion, October 1966 to October 1967.