"The Moving Wall" Vietnam Memorial to Visit St. Louis

My brother Larry was always somewhat of a rebel. He bought an old Harley chopper and joined up with the local chapter of the Hell's Angels when he was in his early twenties. He was actually my half brother, (we had different fathers) and he was the oldest of my mother's three sons. Larry was a big guy, at one time about 6'6" and 280 lbs. He was always the biggest boy in his class when he was going to school and at one point considered a career in basketball before he fell in with "the wrong kind of people."

A few years after Larry had joined the motorcycle wild bunch, the leader of the group, one Big John Michaels, was killed in a horrific accident. None of the guys ever wore a helmet and John's head injuries were so severe that it was a closed casket funeral. This was in the late sixties, right in the heart of the Vietnam War. For some reason Larry decided to join the Army, the 101^st Airborne to be exact. After finishing basic training, he was first sent to Germany and then over to Nam where he served two tours of duty and was wounded twice.

The problems started even before he was discharged from the Army. Whenever he would come home on leave he would usually get in fights and be arrested or tear up the house. He was the kindest, gentlest giant of a man until he used drugs or alcohol and started reliving his "Vietnam moments." Then he was uncontrollable, throwing the Christmas tree through the front window one year and the family dog the next. One time he decided to take on an entire bar, betting all of the customers $20 that they couldn't knock him down. We came to expect the 3 a.m. knock on the door and the visit from the M.PS.