Trail Section: VA615, Settlers Museum to USFS86
Distance: 4.75 miles
Today, to beat the closed road, Richard and I parked and walked in 4-¾ miles and then back out over the same portion of the trail. We walked from Settlers Museum atop Glade Mtn. about 3-¾ miles with a 1400 foot climb and down to USFS86 approximately one mile with a descent of about 600 ft. The Settlers Museum is an 1890’s Southwest Virginia village replica.
Me in Front of a Replica of an Old Schoolhouse at Settlers Museum
What nature offers us to see and how we feel while hiking the trail are the primary reasons for writing the blog, so that I can share it with people who are important to me. Today it was not what I saw or how the hiking made me feel because they were both great; but the thing that has made the biggest impact on me thus far is who I met and the story he told me.
We were back at Settlers Museum after the hike and headed to the car when I met the gentleman and his wife painting a shelter with picnic tables under it. When Richard walked up, the gentleman asked if we were vets. When we said yes, he said I have a great war story to tell you. Unfortunately I was so engrossed in his story(ies), I did not get his picture.
Below is an abridged version of his story that he told:
Forty-two years ago, a nine-year old girl from near Chattanooga wrote a get well card to an unknown wounded Marine who was on a hospital ship off the coast of Vietnam.
Resting aboard the USS Sanctuary and stitched up after being shot in the leg and filled with shrapnel, 19-year-old Marine Private First Class Richard Hamm received the card from the nine year-old, Cyndi Owen. He replied to her card and wrote her back four or five times during the time he was aboard the Sanctuary. After being told that from the Sanctuary he would be sent to Camp Lejune, he promised that he would visit her in Chattanooga. Unfortunately he would be sent back to Vietnam for four more months. During the process of going back to Vietnam he lost her name and address, thus all contact with the nine year-old back in the world was lost. After being discharged from the Marine Corps, he returned to Smyth County where for the next four decades he has lived and worked.
Over forty years later the girl, using Facebook, discovered there were 54 Richard Hamms. She contacted two of them; one of which was Private First Class Richard Hamm’s son. Through her Facebook contact with Richard Hamm’s son, she and the elder Hamm reunited. The date of the Facebook exchange was November 11, 2009, Veterans Day.
On January 9, 2010, Richard Hamm finally made the four decade-old promised visit to the nine-year old, who is now 54 years old. Hamm turned 63 on Jan. 12 and said meeting his wartime pen pal “was the best birthday present I ever got. She made me a birthday cake and gave me a couple of presents.”
Hamm stated “When we came back from Vietnam, we weren’t treated the best. Something like this makes up for it. It’s unbelievable.”
A complete write-up of his story can be found on the following website:
http://www.vawatchdog.org/10/nf10/nfjan10/nf012810-5.htm
What a Great Day For a Vet!
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