A Minnesota PBS Initiative
Pastor John
As a clergyman part of his job was to accompany the military representative during family notifications of KIA's.
My father was a Pastor in a small rural southern community during the Vietnam conflict. As a clergyman part of his job was to accompany the military representative during family notifications of KIA's. During this duty he was was part of telling his parishioners, people he loved, the worst news of their life.
In 1968 he was on one of these trips, telling a family that their son had been killed. The Mother of this young man listened to the military representative, then turned to my father and said, "Pastor John, I listened to this man. He told me my son is dead. Now, Pastor John, you tell me, why, Why was my son killed?
In 2002 I was with my Dad at the Vietnam wall in DC, He touched every name of the boys he buried.
Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C., Creative Commons image courtesy of Derek E. Baird.
Biographical Details
Submitted From: St. Paul, MN
Primary Location During Vietnam: Wells, Minnesota, United States 
Story Subject: Family
Story Themes: Death and Loss, Family, KIA, Killed in Action, Religion, The Vietnam Memorial, The Vietnam Wall
Show Comments