ALAN EVERETT PILON

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The Viet-Nam Memorial is located very close to the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. It is a very special place that you must stop at if ever you visit the American capital.

It is quite simple. Two polished black granite walls are hidden beneath well-kept lawns [image]. On them we can read the names of all the young Americans who lost their lives during the Viet-Nam conflict. The names are placed in the order in which they fell. As you go down along the wall, its height reflects the number of lost soldiers at a different periods in the war.

At panel 26E, line 62, we read the name of Alan Everett Pilon [image]. This young U.S. Marines corporal was from Dove Creek, Colorado. He was born August 5, 1946. On September 12, 1967, he was shot and killed by hostile small arms fire. His body was recovered and returned to the United States. He was only 21 years old [image].

Any memorial to fallen soldiers leaves one without words. This one, with a name of some distant unknown cousin, left me particularly saddened.
 

Jean-Luc Pilon