There were wives and sons and sisters who took care of their wounded men when they came home from Vietnam. Some did it for many years. It reminded me so much of my parents’ generation, friends of my mom and dad, a couple. The man came home from World War II paralyzed. The woman took care of him the rest of his long life.

Beth Wilson of Florence, Alabama, did that for Danny Joe Wilson. They got married after Danny came home wounded from the Vietnam War. She couldn't remember how many surgeries he had after that. He couldn't work, but he lived. He coached Little League. A family friend told me that before Danny died in 2012, kids from the teams he coached, grown up by then, came to the hospital to visit him.

"It was really special to come here for this," Kathy Lawson said. "This was something he would have been so excited about. It's a bittersweet day."

Thomas Charles Littles of Brewton, Alabama, was drafted in 1966. He was wounded in 1969 during his first tour of duty in Vietnam. He died two years later at the age of 24. Thomas was one of 10 children. His brother Douglas was standing near the panel, which now includes Thomas's name.

"Some folks would say closure, but it just says he served with pride and it's finally being recognized by this great memorial," Douglas Littles said.

One of the other names added to the Wall over the weekend was Michael Noel Faherty. There was no family there to see it though. He emigrated to Boston from Galway, Washington, and joined the Army in 1966, as a combat photographer. He caught malaria in Vietnam and died in 1968. His name is now engraved on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, but he's buried in Rahoon Cemetery in Galway City, Ireland.

Names Added To The Memorial

Staff Sgt. Jerry Leon Antrich, U.S. Army

June 20, 1930 – Aug. 10, 1969

Date of Casualty: Nov. 1, 1967

Sgt. 1st Class Frederick Joseph Baum, U.S. Army

Feb. 22, 1930 – Feb. 28, 1971

Date of Casualty: Unknown

Pfc. Henry John Drozdowski, Jr., U.S. Army

March 9, 1947 – April 30, 2011

Date of Casualty: Jan. 13, 1967

Spc. 5 Michael Noel Faherty, U.S. Army

Dec. 30, 1946 – July 25, 1968

Date of Casualty: Unknown

Pfc. Gregory Jackson Franklin, U.S. Army

July 19, 1949 – Feb. 12, 1979

Date of Casualty: Nov. 27, 1968

Spc. 4 William Arthur Gabrielsen, U.S. Army

April 2, 1947 – March 10, 1970

Date of Casualty: Aug. 12, 1968

Pfc. Ronald Hall, U.S. Army

July 20, 1948 – Oct. 2, 1967

Date of Casualty: Unknown

Spc. 4 Robert Kroptavich, U.S. Army

Oct. 26, 1942 – Sept. 10, 1968

Date of Casualty: Unknown

Spc. 4 Thomas Charles Littles, U.S. Army

Nov. 29, 1946 – June 3, 1971

Date of Casualty: Dec. 28, 1969

Pfc. Paul Luther Loidolt, U.S. Army

Aug. 30, 1948 – Feb. 21, 1969

Date of Casualty: April 4, 1968

Master Sgt. Walter Hugh Mauldin, U.S. Army

Sept. 9, 1931 – May 8, 1968

Date of Casualty: Unknown

Spc. 4 Alan Leslie Seamans, U.S. Army

June 10, 1949 – Jan. 25, 1998

Date of Casualty: Oct. 13, 1967

Pfc. Danny Joe Wilson, U.S. Army

July 8, 1944 – Nov. 16, 2012

Date of Casualty: Aug. 18, 1966

Stars and Stripes: The poignant process of etching new names into the Vietnam Wall

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