Why
there is The Hill
When
the Dragon Whispers the wise man listens. During the early
1980’s I started having a dream it was always the
same men came to me in my dream. They stated that they were
now just dust blowing in the wind and
all they had left was their names and they were being forgotten
even by their families.
They were a
wounded and ragged bunch and they carried an American Flag.
It was battle ripped and torn with blood dripping from the
stripes and it was
the names of the men standing in the group.
They stated
that they had given their all for this Country and Freedom.
Now they were being forgotten and being discarded.
They wanted
a remembrance for them in the shape of the heart for it
is the patriotic heart for this Country that makes them
stand at attentionand state that they will protect this
America from enemies foreign or domestic.
It is the brave
and strong heart that makes a man stand and protect his
friends that stand around him to the point of being wounded
or KIA he is that strong heart more afraid to run than stand
his ground and not leave his friends. It
is the hearts that are broken when that young man returns
home in the Flag shrouded coffins.
To his loved
ones and friends who can’t understand the loss or
why someone so young has to die it’s just the broken
heart that have to try live with the loss of a Son, Daughter,
Friend or Sweetheart.
They continued
to come in my dreams every night until Memorial Day 1987,
I was in a wheel chair but with my wife’s help I along
with her we started off on a campaign to find a way to build
a Memorial . Objective
to pay reverence and honor to the men who gave their all
to their Countries Call. It
should be a memorial not of war but respect for what they
gave so as to bring unity between Veterans of all wars,
we wish to honor them.
I had worked
with Jan Scruggs and B. T. Collins, I picked their brains
to see how to go about our endeavor. We had a meeting with
Assemblyman Rusty Areias and California Viet Nam Veteran
Memorial Fund Vice President B. T. Collins. I met with Senator
Eric Seastrand, Assemblyman Rusty Areias, Supervisor Barbara
Shipnuck, Sheriff Bud Cook, Mayor Russ Jefferies, Mayor
Henry Mellow and the American Legion Riders who gave their
all.
Dave Northstrand
gave me all the coverage he could from the Salinas Californian
in 1987 he covered me on my poetry. Clay Peterson took pictures
of me starting in 1987 in the Carmel Fall Arts Festival
show. In 1990 my art
was sent around the country in Healing The Wounds Vietnam
Veterans and their Art sponsored by Leslie Freeland. My
wife and I followed along to as many towns as we could still
trying to raise funds. In 1989 Martha Ray threw her support
to our cause.
In 1989 I met
with a few others who wanted to build a memorial to the
men from Monterey County who gave their all in Viet Nam
we then came up with a name it was and sill is the Monterey
County Viet Nam Veterans Memorial Committee it grew from
there to what it is now.
The last time
the men came to me in my dreams they were in their dress
uniforms and standing tall they said now they would not
be forgotten and now they could rest in peace.
Above all the
Committee are the ones that made the Monterey County Viet
Nam Veterans Memorial come to what it is, it couldn't been
done without their
dedication, blood, sweat and tears
Thank you for
all your work
Your Friend
Dave Keith
