I walked out during the closing speaker at the traveling Vietnam Wall.....

Lindbergh HS hosted the traveling Vietnam Wall this past week.  A haunting tribute to our fallen soldiers from an era full of turbulence and change.  My generation didn't do justice to honor those who served and the last decades have been spent trying to heal those wounds.  The Wall is a part of that healing; sharing memories and letting go of some of the hurt.  One of the speakers at the closing ceremony, in my opinion, abused the opportunity to further the healing and instead chose to revisit the pain with insults and name calling of those who didn't meet his personal standards. Starting with conscious objectors, Jimmy Carter pardons (1977), to our current president. He even managed to get into " those who get handouts" that he and others don't get.  In a few inarticulate strokes, he managed to insult two presidents and thousands of those who were conflicted about serving when our own nation couldn't decide if it was a war or conflict.  I understood the passion, and whether I agree or not with him, just doesn't matter.  I was stunned that he took this time to promote his own politics.  An audience that was emotional was held hostage by this man who was grand- standing by ranting and raving.  Although he was quick to point out all the degrees he achieved, he certainly didn't come across eloquent or thoughtful. Instead, he came across as someone who had an inability to communicate his beliefs so he resorted to hate and name calling.  Myself and a few others walked out. Wrong time, wrong place and inappropriate, Mr. Walter Crawford; this wasn't supposed to be about you or your personal opinions.