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Who Was Richard W. Smith?
Daily Ink
Stored in: Utata Discussions
Posted On: October 07 2006
By: Brittney Bush
Photo © rt44man
No man is an island - and no one's identity can be found wholly inside himself. We're always looking to relate ourselves to others, to compare and contrast and examine and link. We wonder who we are, how we got here, and who we might have been.
A few years go, Utata member rt44man came face-to-face with the identity question in a surreal and unexpected way.
my wife and I visited a traveling memorial wall replica that passed through town. We went to check it out, and since we did not have any relatives to look up, we decided to see if anyone who had my name was on the wall. We asked the lady to look up Richard W. Smith. She found one listed and then asked if we wanted any additional info on him. We said sure. She told us he was Richard William Smith born Aug. 8th, 1949, that he was a Private First Class in the Marine Corp from Minneaplolis, Minesota, and that he died on March 14th 1969. When she got to the last part my wife and I both just stood there with our mouths wide open. We were shocked, and a cold chill ran through us as we learned that this man named Richard W. Smith died on the same day that I was born. March 14th 1969.
So, we all know who Richard W. Smith is, but the intrigue lies in discovering who Richard W. Smith WAS. Certainly Richard can't help but wonder about the fellow who shared his name but not his time. And now that we've heard the story, we can't help but be curious, too. Maybe we can assist Richard in his quest to explore someone else's identity, and to examine - in the reflection, in the circumstance - his own.
Click here to help.
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