European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 11, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse Monday november 11, 1985 the stars and stripes Page 9. Vietnam Era is documented in unusual way7 by visitors veterans Day by Chuck Vinch Washington Bureau Washington it s a Plain building Noth ing More than � converted warehouse in the Washington suburbs. Inside steel shelving units reach up to the Stan Dard government Issue fluorescent lights mounted on the lofty ceiling. The National Park service for years has been storing items of archival interest from Park service Sites in the building. Civil War artefacts from Battlefield Are housed with furniture and other items from the Homes of historic figures such As Clara Barton and Frederick Douglass. But against the Back Wall sits a different kind of col Lection More than 1,500 Obj is left by visitors at the Vietnam veterans memorial since it was dedicated in 1982. This collection is unique in that the items were not selected by a curator said David gun curator and site manager of the museum and archaeological regional storage facility or Mars. Many times Cura tors face the problem of deciding what is worthy of collecting but in this Case the people leaving the items Are making that decision for Guynes said he still is organizing the collection and has not catalogued the items yet. Cataloguing Means we know exactly what each item is who put it there and who it was meant for. But that s difficult because Many of the items arc left anon when people began leaving items at the Wall the Park service which is responsible for administration and maintenance of the site was caught off guard. The Park service began collecting the items but after about a year the amount began to get unwieldy. We had boxes and boxes of stuff stored in a maintenance shop at our regional offices spokesman Earle Kittleman said. Realizing How historically important these items might be the service decided to store them at the Mars facility in Lanham my. Included Are pieces of clothing flags photographs hats pow bracelets inscribed cigarette lighters dog tags a lock of hair and a tiny plastic Soldier. Medals including purple hearts and Bronze stars Are common. A Small toy Panda wears a tag around he neck saying i miss you. One woman writes letters to her son Ana leaves them at the Wall every few weeks. It s a phenomenon unique in Park service experience something that has Only just begun to be explored Guynes said. We really Haven t studied Why people do this or what it All Guynes called the memorial objects one of the most significant contemporary collections in existence. Each piece is an expression of emotions Felt by the person placing them. And it has much More meaning than if a curator approached vets and asked them to donate items from the Vietnam Era. We re documenting that Era in an unusual items left at the memorial arc picked up by four Park service rangers assigned full time at the Wall. Most Are picked up within one Day after they re left Ranger Keith Snyder said. I be never asked someone Why they be left something at the Wall Snyder said. In my opinion it s an extremely private personal moment. There s a reason Why they do it but it s not my place to ask about it. You see a lot of emotional people. Last week i had four sets of parents who came Down within a half hour Span in the pouring rain to see their sons names on the Wall. The but ones left some Flowers. Then the father turned to me and said it s our son s birthday " rangers collect items left at memorial Washington when items Are left at the Viet Nam veterans memorial Park rangers tag them with the Date and the location along the Wall where the y were found. They Are held for 30 Days then become the property of the National Park service and Are entered permanently into the collection stored at the museum and archaeological regional storage facility in Lanham my. To assist in the documentation Effort the Park serv ice ii considering inviting Vietnam veterans to the facility to View the collection which is not open to the general Public. We d like to give the vets a Chance to see it since they re the ones that it would probably mean the most to said curator David Guynes. But at the same time we d ask for volunteers who would be willing to help us identify and Catalon the once the cataloguing is completed researchers will be Able to examine the collection. Guynes said he already has a request from sociologists at the University of Georgia for permission to study the items. Chuck Vinch us photo by Rudl wll Lumi a photo and a Flag Are two items left behind by Rullof to the Vietnam veterans memorial students to Honor slain Wii Soldier s4.s Pitolo by Rudl win Lawni a woman gets an impression of name from the memo real using Pencil and a piece of paper. By Joseph Owen Stuttgart Bureau Hochfelsen France As other americans pay tribute to living military veterans today a group of Stu dents from Karlsruhe Germany will be in northeastern France honouring a . Soldier who died there 41 years ago in a world War 11 Battle. The Soldier 1st it. John Grant Rahill of Caldwell n.j., remains buried in French soil outside Hochfelsen a Small town in the Alsace Region according to wishes he expressed shortly before his death dec. 2, 1944. The Lone grave lies along a narrow Highway a few Hundred Yards West of the town beneath a Monument commemorating a much larger military cemetery that once occupied the site. Three Karlsruhe High school students will Lay a Wreath there today Ana play laps according to Birgit Linker of the Karlsruhe military Community Public affairs office. Linker said the simple ceremony is a response to a suggestion she received in a letter from an american in Virginia who knew about the grave. The citizens of Hochfelsen Are not expected to participate being occupied with the Holiday task of commemorating their own War casualties said Hoch Fulden s mayor Albert Schott. But he said the town turns out in Force each year on America s memorial Day to Honor the dead american Soldier. An infantry company commander Rahill died a month before his 21st birthday near the town of Ler. His body and those of other american soldiers were buried in nearby Hochfelsen. A few years later the other bodies were exhumed for shipment to the United states or Transfer to an american military cemetery in St. Avoid France. Ratziu s body remained behind though. Before he died he had written a letter to jigs Mother Clara c. Rahill. Saying he wanted to be buried in the place where he would die. Mrs. Rahill sent a letter to Hochfelsen after the War to inform the town of her son s wishes. This would be truthfully a great Honor for him to remain in Hochfelsen As a Symbol of the sacrifice of America s sons for France s liberation she wrote. The letter found its Way to Frederic and Lily Haag owners of the meteor brewery in Hochfelsen. From that moment a great correspondence began said mrs. Haag interviewed at her Home next to the brewery an Enterprise which her late husband s great great Grandfather founded in 1840. Reminiscing about the events hat brought the Haags and the ran ills to Gether mrs. Haag displayed a stack of letters and photo graphs the Rahill family has sent her Over the years. She said Kahili s last wish stirred the hearts of French citizens All Over the alsatian department of Bas Rhin lower Rhine who donated Money to have a Monument erected at the site in 1953. My husband and i invited the parents to stay. They spent 10 Days with us. They contacted Gen. Dwight Eisenhower first and he arranged to have a special plane at their disposal said mrs. Haag. The Rahilly who Are now deceased visited Hochfelsen on several other Occa Sions with their children. While mrs. Haag stayed in touch with the family through Rahill s brother retired Navy capt. Joe w. Rahill of Coronado. Calif., the town forgot about Rahill after Many years of holding annual ceremonies at his grave. It had been a common practice until 12 Yea ii said Linker. Then the new mayor brought it Back to
