A Veteran’s Story from Vietnam-”The Meeting at the Wall”

The Meeting at the Wall

Finding peace and forgiveness after 24 years

By John Plummer, Purcellville, Virginia

I was in my living room reading a book with the television on low. It was a warm, pleasant June evening in 1996, and I was glad to have some time to myself.

Then a photo flashed on the screen, an image that had haunted me for years. No matter how often I saw it, the pain came back to me. How could I be forgiven? How could I even speak of my part in it?

A little Vietnamese girl running toward the camera, arms outstretched, screaming hysterically from terrible napalm burns. This Pulitzer prize-winning photo had wrung the hearts of millions, but it was particularly wrenching for me: I was the one responsible for the girl’s agony.

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bG9hZHMvMy1NdXJyYXksX1JhbmR5X0hvbWV0b3duX0hlcm9lcy5qcGciO308L2xpPjwvdWw+