Artifact Assemblage left at the Vietnam Memorial.
Title
Artifact Assemblage left at the Vietnam Memorial.
Description
Left at the Wall in 1990, the assemblage is dedicated to U.S. Marine Corps Private First Class (PFC) Donald Gary Detmer. A baby sweater accompanies a handwritten envelope, in which a there is an enclosed letter from PFC Detmer's mother.
According to the VVMF catalog, "The letter describes her first visit to The Wall to view her son's name, an act for which she had previously been unprepared but which she knew she must do before her own death. In the letter, PFC Detmer's mother informs her son that she intended to bring his teddy bear with her to leave at The Wall but, being unable to part with it, has brought his first sweater instead."
The letter finishes with the sentiment that ""You are always in my heart. / How I love you. / God be with you til [sic] we meet again."
According to the VVMF catalog, "The letter describes her first visit to The Wall to view her son's name, an act for which she had previously been unprepared but which she knew she must do before her own death. In the letter, PFC Detmer's mother informs her son that she intended to bring his teddy bear with her to leave at The Wall but, being unable to part with it, has brought his first sweater instead."
The letter finishes with the sentiment that ""You are always in my heart. / How I love you. / God be with you til [sic] we meet again."
Source
Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund website
Contributor
From the collections of the National Park Service, the National Mall, and the Memorial Parks.
Collection
Citation
“Artifact Assemblage left at the Vietnam Memorial.,” UNO Digital Humanities Projects, accessed April 25, 2024, https://unodigitalhumanitiesprojects.omeka.net/items/show/427.