William Harmon KohoLance CorporalE CO, 2ND BN, 12TH MARINES, 3RD MARDIV United States Marine Corps 14 May 1947 - 14 March 1967 Bend, OR Panel 16E Line 079 |
|
|
The database page for William Harmon Koho
The screams are silent, but you can hear them nevertheless, as you approach the long black gash in an otherwise green lawn. Their names - tens of thousands of them - are carved two inches high in black granite and they seem to go on forever. Names I know and names I don't. A friend from Little League Baseball. A brother of a friend. A brother of mine. They all have their stories to tell. Stories of war and killing, of love and hope. Stories of youth and shattered dreams. And now they can begin to finally tell the stories as the nation begins to listen. At last. The Wall is a somber place, a very quiet place. People talk in whispers so as to not interrupt the stories told in silent screams. But more than that it is a place where healing can begin. It has for thousands and it did for me. By leaving an earlier version of this story at the Wall, I was able to leave a part of something that I had carried for much too long. The impact on me of visiting the Wall was unexpected. I have been at this for so damn long that I was sure I had it all worked out. I had even been to see the half-scale version of the Wall. So I felt confident that I had dulled the emotions. I'm not sure if I have ever been more wrong about anything before in my life. I was so overwhelmed that it took me a long time to even be able to approach it. I stopped several times to catch my breath and swallow the emotions. In the end, there was too much to swallow. I saw many things at the Wall, but mostly I saw many others like me. The clinched fists, wrenched faces, questioning looks and glazed eyes were all there. And so was Bill. Now I know he will always be there - and with us. And that's something that no one can ever take away.
The complete memorial to Lance Corporal Bill Koho is at |
The point-of-contact for this memorial is his brother, Dennis Koho Keizer, Oregon cowpi@koho.org 26 Mar 1997 |
Top of Page
www.VirtualWall.org Back to |
With all respect
Jim Schueckler, former CW2, US Army
Ken Davis, Commander, United States Navy (Ret)
Channing Prothro, former CAP Marine
Last updated 10/28/2002