10
Bobby McFerrin doesn't need a taoo to remember serving in Vietnam, though his le calf is marked
with a Purple Heart.
Every day, McFerrin feels shrapnel in his ankle, a nagging memory of the death fight that le shards
of metal in his body. It took 50 years and a visit to the Vietnam War Memorial for the Tuscaloosa
resident to realize those painful fragments are true badges of honor.
For McFerrin and 97 other Vietnam veterans who saw the Vietnam War Memorial on May 10 – many
for their first time – it was a moment to pay respect to the 58,000 Americans who gave their lives in
the conflict. It was also a time for McFerrin and other west Alabama veterans to be honored for their
service.
With help from the Rotary Club of Tuscaloosa, the Vietnam veterans took a chartered Boeing 737
from Tuscaloosa Regional Airport to Washington, D.C. The trip included stops at the World War II and
Korean War memorials, the Lincoln Memorial, the Iwo Jima Memorial, the Pentagon 9/11 Memorial and
the changing of the guard in Arlington National Cemetery.
ENERGIZERS
Veterans from Alabama gathered at the Marine Corps Memorial and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.
