Traveling Vietnam Memorial Speaks of Loss, Pain and Love That Endure
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
By Laurel Walker
On George Joseph Carr's 21st birthday, the fireworks were not of celebration, but of war.
On Sept. 27, Eileen Carr will sing a birthday song for her big brother.
He would have been 53 birthday had he survived the accidental explosion on the public works project he was assigned to in South Vietnam.
Eileen's songs will be from a recording of Latin hymns just released last month under the title "Pax" (meaning peace).
The collection is of the hymns ingrained from the Carr's strong Catholic upbringing and set to modern, almost New Age, original musical arrangements.
She'll sing as a tribute to her brother.
Eileen Carr was an eighth grader when Army officers came to their New Berlin home at 6 a.m. one day to tell Lillian and John Carr that the second oldest of their 11 children was "a casualty by reason of death."
Eileen Carr has seen tears shed at both the original wall and the traveling replicas. Yes, they open old wounds. But that's not so bad.
"Every time you do that," she said, "there is healing."