April in America and the sadness of war.

The war on the other side of the globe ended 42 years ago, but for many Americans, the losses still haunt them today.

Fifty years ago today, 33 Marines and Fox 2-1 servicemen died in the Battle of Binh Son. The inscription on the wreath placed in front of the Vietnam War Memorial wall (National Mall, Washington DC) remains fresh, glistening with morning dew on a late April day in 2017.

In late April each year, flower arrangements, letters, and small mementos like these are brought here and placed in front of the cold stone slabs.

The war on the other side of the globe ended 42 years ago, but for many Americans, the losses still haunt them today.

Maureen Murphy-Payne, a volunteer at the memorial, is one of them.

Maureen, from Town of Norwood, Massachusetts, was a local police investigator before retiring.

For the past few years, she has joined the volunteer group at this Vietnam War memorial.

Each year, she and her brother, also a retired police officer, arrange to fly from Massachusetts to Washington D.C. two or three times to volunteer for one or two weeks. Their brother was an American soldier who died in Vietnam in June 1968.

They wanted to do something for their deceased brother. Maureen recounted that on the day the family received the news of her brother's death, everyone was silent, and even now, the void he left behind for his family remains immense.

"Later, after reading more documents, I learned that it was the year of the most intense fighting, and this memorial stone reflects that; 1968 was the year with the highest number of American soldiers killed," said Maureen.

She continued thoughtfully, "The inscriptions on this stone wall are not at all dry and boring. The names are given according to the dates they passed away. Behind each name, if it ends with a small diamond symbol, it means they have been confirmed dead. If it's marked with a plus sign, it means they are still missing, their bodies not yet found."

In the event that missing persons return alive, their names will be circled as a symbol of life.

The black stone wall, inscribed with over 58,200 names and their countless different fates, speaks volumes about the tragedy of war.

For decades, this memorial has been a place where we come to reflect and commemorate, not to glorify something.”

My conversation with Maureen was interrupted by an elderly woman who wanted help finding the name of a soldier inscribed on a stone tablet. A soldier who remains missing from the 1965 Vietnam War.

The woman said: "This American soldier's mother is too old to come here; she was asked to come to this memorial to confirm whether her son's body has been found."

Maureen quickly found out the soldier's name. She expressed regret that he was still missing!

Another reason Maureen arranged to visit Washington DC this time was that on April 22nd, a group of Vietnam War veterans from across the United States gathered at this memorial.

On the morning of April 22nd, a deeply moving reunion took place among veterans. There were no handshakes or celebratory greetings, just polite exchanges between elderly individuals, some in wheelchairs and requiring assistance from volunteers.

“It’s still so difficult to recall the story from over 40 years ago. The war has been so heavily criticized for its meaning. After the memorial service, there was a slight chill running through me; I felt colder than the outside temperature,” said Jim Orman, a veteran.

"Today, children are brought here by their parents, and students are illustrated by the wall during history lessons."

The first thing they exclaimed when they arrived was, "So many people have died." But I know that in Vietnam, the number of deaths in this war reached millions, far too large for any single stone monument to record.

"Everything that is here is meant to remind everyone on this Earth of the brutality of war," said Maureen.

According to Tuoi Tre newspaper