Hello to All, Many have said the Quilts of Tears are really the back side of the Wall, or the other side of the Wall, whichever term you wish to use. However, that is the way it was at Salt lake City, Utah this past weekend. The Quilts were displayed in a small building behind the Wall. This, in no way, took away from the existence of the Quilts, there were signs everywhere pointing to their site. Indeed, they were for the very first time, figuratively speaking, the other side of the Wall. Displayed in the building were works of art by a Vietnam Veteran, his nightmares of Vietnam, very graphic paintings, his horrors of war. In three adjoining rooms were hung the Quilts of Tears. People stood in the hot sun, as many as 50 deep, to enter the building, tears and hugs were shared by all. I was delighted to meet Gary Knight from the VVA talklist e-mail group, was great to put a face to a name. Gary and I had a nice long chat and we shared hugs and smiles. Between eight and ten thousand people a day attended the three day event. I ran out of free gift items I had for the veterans, ran out of my handout literature about the Quilts, used up all of my business cards, my guest book became full and new pages had to be printed up. The entire event was awesome. Tears rolled down the faces of the people viewing the quilts, and I handed out tissues by the hands full. I was able to meet again with a Vietnam Vet whom I had met at a Silver Rose ceremony, at Salt Lake City, five years earlier. He walked into the building and shouted, “Front and Center, Jennie Le Fevre.” Did we share hugs, I was so glad to see him again. He helped me with the display for the entire three days, When I took my breaks, he was my spokesman and did very well. Between the two of us, we really informed the public about Agent Orange, he showed the people his block in the Quilts. The end of the closing ceremony was very special, they requested all veterans to come forward and stand in front of the Wall, I was overcome with pride and joy to stand with such honorable men and women, my fellow veterans. I was near tears. We joined hands, held them high in the air and sang Lee Greeenwood's “God bless the U.S.A.”, we then turned and saluted the Wall. An incident happened at Salt Lake City airport security check point, on my return home. They wanted to go through my carry on bag, The inspector had detected two large round metal objects in my rollup jewelry case tucked in the corner of my carry on bag. I knew what they were. But he had to check them out for himself, and soon everyone within hearing distance knew what they were too. I said very loudy to the inspector, the first round object is the Silver Rose medallion presented to Agent Orange victims and their survivors, and I said, I am a widow of an Agent Orange Victim. The second round object was the Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm medal, a gift to me at the event, from the Vietnam Veteran whom I had met five years earlier and who had helped me at the event. By the time I was finished, everyone knew what the medals were and what they meant to me. I quietly closed my suitase and proceeded on my way, with a smile on my face. Another Quilts of Tears mission accomplished. Now for a little rest until next month in Ohio. Hugs and Smiles, Jennie Jennie Le Fevre
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