Lumpy:
Thanks for your well-thought-out and well-written comment.
Of course, reading something like this wakes the demons. Sometimes they are weaker and sometimes they are strong, but over time, they gradually become less powerful.
The first time I visited the Wall, I headed back to New Jersey where I was staying and had my friend stop at a bar and I picked up some quarts of beer. I drank those steadily 'til they were gone and we arrived. I locked myself in my room and sobbed uncontrollably for some hours until it was time to get dressed and go to the computer school we were attending. The second and third visits were easier. I was really glad I went. I left an air medal and a Buddhist medallion that I wouldn't fly without at the base of the Wall.
Thanks, all, for listening.
Eric