Vietnam Graffiti — Marking Time: Voyage to Vietnam includes the personal stories of American soldiers and Marines who were transported to the Vietnam War by troopship. The cd features compelling interviews, sound effects and music. This cd is a companion to the Vietnam Graffiti traveling exhibit that has been touring American Museums since 2007. Running time 43 minutes.
"Messages from a forgotten troopship — A gigantic, steel time-capsule filled with messages from the past. Graffiti by soldiers and Marines bound for Vietnam almost 50 years ago. Names, hometowns, expressions of love, anxiety, humor, discomfort, peace and the 1960’s. All discovered by chance — now never to be forgotten."
Graffiti found on the General Nelson M. Walker’s berthing units represents the most honest expression of the writer’s feeling at the moment written. Musings of home town, love, women, anxiety, military pride, the 1960’s, humor and folk art-like drawings express a soldier’s or Marine’s personal feelings and aspirations, likes and dislikes. The graffiti also indicates how a person felt in the middle of a vast ocean, facing an uncertain future. As writer Anton Chekov wrote much earlier:
“When a man in a melancholy mood is left tete-a-tete with the sea, or any landscape which seems to him grandiose, there is always, for some reason, mixed with melancholy, a conviction that he will live and die in obscurity, and he reflectively snatches up a pencil and hastens to write his name on the first thing that comes handy.” And that is exactly what many of the men on the Walker did. — from the website
Learn more about Vietnam Graffiti at the official website.