On 7 April 2001, seven American and nine Vietnamese died in a helicopter crash in Quang Binh Province while conducting advance work in preparation for one of our field activities. I knew two of the Americans and one of the Vietnamese personally and I miss their presence here on this earth.
Obviously, the loss of life for those who died is the greatest tragedy. But, many still here were also greatly affected by the loss. Family members, friends, and co-workers remember this event with great sadness. And on 7 April 2011, in this remembrance, members of Det 2, the Vietnamese MIA team and JPAC will travel back to Quang Binh Province to the foot of the mountain where the crash occured to remember this great tragedy in a simple and solemn ceremony.
The event occured several years after I had already left the detachment, so I didn't experience any "it could have been me" moments like some may have. I didn't even share such a relationship with any of the ones who died that I corresponded with them. This was, afterall, before Facebook, and the massive proliferation of digital contacts that we now enjoy. But I still find myself missing these people to some degree or another at any given time; not just on the anniversary that comes and goes.
The emotion of missing someone, whether a friend or family member, is very easy to identify but difficult to describe... like an emptiness that I feel in my stomach, I suppose I would say if forced to come up with a description.
I guess it is just good for me from time to time to sit quietly and think of those times I spent with these people and others I have lost in my lifetime. The conversations that I had and the good times that I shared. It doesn't make the emotion go away, but it does somehow make me feel better.
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