The Wall
Tim Murphy, originally from Massena, New York, was drafted into the Army and spent a year in Vietnam, from September 1968-69. He served as a platoon leader with the 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry, 4th Infantry Division in the Central Highlands near Pleiku. He received a Silver Star.
He wrote “The Wall” after his first visit to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington in 1983 with his brother, Pat Murphy, who also served in the Vietnam War.
“That first visit affected me so deeply, ” Tim Murphy told VVA’s Bernard Edelman in 2004. “I came away with an abiding comfort which endures to this day. It was dramatic. It was cathartic. And I felt I had to write something about it. I wanted others to know this peace that I’d experienced there.”
After all, he said, “I have a lot of friends on The Wall. “
The Wall
On a drizzly D.C. morning, in the middle of July,
My brother brought me downtown to the Mall;
Past the watchful eyes of Lincoln, 'neath a weeping summer sky,
We crossed the street to the little green and visited The Wall.
I remember I was nervous then, I guess a little scared,
'Cause I wasn't sure how I'd react at all;
To see the names of the servicemen who'd been recorded there:
Who'd heard the final roll call and assembled at The Wall.
Someone might stoop to leave a rose, a letter, or a poem;
A message to a young man loved and lost,
To show they still remember those who never made it home:
Who built The Wall so long and tall, and paid the bitter cost.
And every name's a father or a husband or a son,
Or a daughter or a brother or a cousin to someone;
Or a name might be a classmate or a friend you may recall:
There's nearly sixty thousand fallen names still waiting at The Wall.
As I watched the lines of people that walked by in slow parade,
I read a different story in each face;
And I couldn't help but wonder at this pilgrimage we'd made,
And what common bond, if any, might have brought us to this place.
There were tourists, and the curious, and some veterans who came,
Still others who sought an answer to it all;
But the only thing I'm sure of is: we left not quite the same,
With our memories alive and well, and waiting at The Wall.
by Tim Murphy
I performed with Tim for over 25 years. This is my best approximation of his picking style on The Wall.
Tim’s brother, passed on a cassette of the Wall to Pat Garvey in the Dubliner pub in Washington DC, in the 90’s. He graciously added it to his set.
John McDermott, one of the three original Irish Tenors, recorded this on his album Remembrance
Mike McCann, a vet and former Green Beret recorded this version back in the early 2000’s