Walking Arlington's Veterans Park Maze & Seeing A Touching Memorial Plaque

I went to Veterans Park in Arlington on my way to Arlington's Chinatown. Well, more accurately it is more Vietnamtown than Chinatown.

There were a surprising number of disk golfers out playing that odd game. Surprising because it is rather HOT.

I opted to walk through the Xeriscape/Natural Trail area, which is heavily shaded. The trails are a bit of a maze, there are boardwalks like you see in the picture, rock bridges, big rock pavers, little creeks. And it is slightly hilly.

Veterans Park really is a gem of a park. Part is heavily, and beautifully landscaped. With about half of the park being pretty much totally wild with great trails running through through the wilderness.

True to its name, Veterans Park is one big memorial to veterans, with a big centerpiece memorial with a statue of a soldier overlooking names of those who died in the various American wars going all the way back to the War of Northern Aggression, also known as the Civil War.

Today I saw a new memorial plaque, set into the cement foundation of a bench donated in memory of a soldier.

The soldier's name is Glenn "Dale" Hicks, Jr. A Sargent in the U.S. Army. Killed in Action in Iraq. August 25, 1982 - April 28, 2007. Son, Big Brother, Friend.

Only 25 years old. Killed in Iraq. In America's first pre-emptive war, brought on by bad intelligence in more ways than one.

Had America not been caught in the quagmire known as the Vietnam War I doubt I would have been in Arlington today getting Asian groceries. After that war's bad end America gained a lot of very industrious new immigrants, one of whom owns the store I was in today in Arlington's Vietnamtown, the Saigon Cho Market.

Saigon no longer exists as the name of a city. It's now Ho Chi Minh City. Ho Chi Minh was a fan of Thomas Jefferson and America's democracy til we botched our budding friendship with the man after World War II.

Condolences to the Hick's family. And kudos to Arlington for Veterans Park. If you live in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metro Zone you should pay this park a visit. That includes you, George W. Bush.