Duery Felton (DF) and Rick Weidman (RW)

DF: Going to the wall, I had mixed feelings, but as we were walking about, people would leave things all over the wall. Anyone could leave something. No one could recognize certain objects there so I pointed them out. One of the things I immediately recognized was the military hospital pajamas because I wore them a long time. So we decided we were going to make this a collection, and I was asked to come in and assist in setting all this up.

RW: They created the job around you.

DF: Yes.

RW: So it’s not that you chose to work at the memorial but it chose you?

DF: It chose me. I really do think that it chose me.

There about 8 million Vietnam era veterans and out of that number I for some reason was the one chosen for this. I don’t know why, but I’ve often thought about that.

RW: What kept you coming back?

DF: During Vietnam, and I very seldom speak of this, we had walked into an ambush and one of my friends had been killed, and I stopped to look at his body. And my sergeant came up to me and said, ‘We have to keep moving forward. That’s why we have medics. The medic will get him.’ I had to go against everything I’ve learned growing up, as regards to having feelings for people. In order to survive I had to learn to detach, unfortunately not everyone has learned to reconnect.

RW: There’s nothing you can do to help any one of those guys. The only thing you can do is to help understand them better and leave that as a legacy so they’re not forgotten. I don’t understand how you do it Duery. Your strength is always what has knocked me over. You’re the man.

DF: No Rick you are. Thank you. Thank you for being my friend.