Wisconsin XXIV

Wisconsin once again. I have been posting from the pictures that Joan sent me for quite some time now. I am eternally grateful to her for passing them along.

I have told the story of how she happened to find me and you can see that post here and several other post bearing her photos.

These pics, as are all the others, are pulled from a display that travels Wisconsin. So, you are viewing pictures of pictures that sometimes are not the best.

They are pictures, however, of the best America had to offer at the time and they deserve honor and our respect regardless of my abilities to present them at their best. 

Pfc Waschick entered Vietnam on January 6, 1968. On February 9th he was lost to multiple fragmentation wounds. He was just 18 years old.

Cpl Greenwood was lost on Hill 851 in Kartum Province om September 4, 1968. His platoon leader later credited him with "preventing the slaughter" of his fellow soldiers, he was lost to small arms fire near Dak Sum.

Cpl Schiesl was lost on March 24, 1969 at Quang Tri to light arms fire. I could not locate many facts about his service but I noted that he received, among others, a Bronze Star and a Unit Presidential Citation.

Again, my undying gratitude to Joan.

Next time, on September 19th, we will return to Wyoming, to honor others so worthy of our admiration and never ending respect. Join me there, at 9:00 am., as always.

If you are following along at all, you will have seen that a number of you, like Joan from Wisconsin, Tony from Texas, Mike from Maryland, Ron from Florida, Tim from Virginia, Molly from Florida, Colleen from Pennsylvania, Elli from Maryland, and Peg and Ray from Florida, among others, have responded to my request to send me memorials you have seen in your area or where you may have traveled. I even got one from Ireland! These submissions help expand the knowledge of how we have remembered the men and women who served and/or were lost in 'Nam and you help to honor them. If you have any such photos, I would love to see them. Please send them along to the email at the left and I will gladly share them here.

I hope all those listed here will encourage you to send along photos and join the group!

West Virginia XXII

 

My last few posts from Wild, Wonderful, West Virginia have focused on those from Morgantown High School, so I decided to try to find others deserving the same focus, attention, and admiration.

As stated in my post from Berkeley Springs, I wondered into town several days before the memorial was even dedicated almost exactly four years ago.. You can view that post here.

CPL Leland A. Bailey was lost on September 20, 1969 at Quang Nam. he is honored on the memorial in Berkeley Springs, WV but was originally from Baltimore, Maryland and is honored by that state, also. All that I can find is that he was lost to "other explosive device." 

Leland A. Bailey

Larry Monroe Clark

Sp4 Clark is listed on this memorial in Berkeley Springs, and is buried in WV.  I discovered while looking for additional information about him that he grew up in my county in Maryland. Not 15 minutes away from where I grew up. So, he is honored on our Wall, too. A Wall I helped build. Very odd feeling finding this out today. He was lost to small arms fire on February 2, 1968.

The third name I was going to write about today is Richard Morgan Johnson jr. He is listed among the seven said to have been lost in Vietnam on the monument in Berkeley Springs.

1Lt Richard M. Johnson jr.

I can find no trace of him on any site confirming this.

What I have found, repeatedly, is Richard Morgan Johnson jr killed in Korea in 1968. This solder is from the same area and I have not been able to solve the mystery.* 

I will continue to seek information and hopefully will clear this up.

If you know anything about this, please contact me at the email listed on the left side of this post. 

I will certainly update if I learn anything new.

Next time, on September 14th, we will return to Wisconsin, to honor others so worthy of our admiration and never ending respect. Join me there, at 9:00 am., as always.

If you are following along at all, you will have seen that a number of you, like Joan from Wisconsin, Tony from Texas, Mike from Maryland, Ron from Florida, Tim from Virginia, Molly from Florida, Colleen from Pennsylvania, Elli from Maryland, and Peg and Ray from Florida, among others, have responded to my request to send me memorials you have seen in your area or where you may have traveled. I even got one from Ireland! These submissions help expand the knowledge of how we have remembered the men and women who served and/or were lost in 'Nam and you help to honor them. If you have any such photos, I would love to see them. Please send them along to the email at the left and I will gladly share them here.

I hope all those listed here will encourage you to send along photos and join the group!

* I spoke this evening with Chuck Hempe. the man who brought the Berkeley springs Memorial to life. He assured me that 1LT Johnson was in fact lost in Korea in an incident at the DMZ and was included here as a son of Berkeley Springs and a 'Nam era soldier. 

Washington

Anacortes is located on Fidalgo Island and is easily accessible via bridges to the mainland. I have featured the memorial here before and you can see that post here.

The three from Anacortes who were lost are:  

Darwin Engman

WO1 Engman was piloting a chopper near Thanh Son when it was shot down. Several others were lost in the crash of from ground fire while trying to escape the chopper.  

Russell Hibler

SGT Russell Hibler was lost on March 30, 1970 to multiple fragmentation wounds. He was lost in the Thua Thien Province.

Gordon Logan

CPL Gordon W. Logan was a paratrooper who was lost on November 12, 1969 at Binh Dinh. On his VVMF page it specifies "other explosive device" without further explanation. I could find no other information about this hero. How very sad that is. 

Next time, on September 9th, we will return to West Virginia, to honor others so worthy of our admiration and never ending respect. Join me there, at 9:00 am., as always.

If you are following along at all, you will have seen that a number of you, like Joan from Wisconsin, Tony from Texas, Mike from Maryland, Ron from Florida, Tim from Virginia, Molly from Florida, Colleen from Pennsylvania, Elli from Maryland, and Peg and Ray from Florida, among others, have responded to my request to send me memorials you have seen in your area or where you may have traveled. I even got one from Ireland! These submissions help expand the knowledge of how we have remembered the men and women who served and/or were lost in 'Nam and you help to honor them. If you have any such photos, I would love to see them. Please send them along to the email at the left and I will gladly share them here.

I hope all those listed here will encourage you to send along photos and join the group!  

Virginia XXXIV

I posted earlier about a memorial deep within Luray Caverns in Virginia. If you can't travel to the caverns, and you should if you can, here is that original post.

 

In the mean time here are some of the heroes honored on this unique memorial.

 

Norman C. Brubaker

SSGT Brubaker was lost at Ninh Thuan on May 15,1968 to hostile small arms fire. it saddens me that so little information seems to be available not only for SSGT Brubaker, but for the vast majority of those I try to honor here. 

Emmett Dougans

SP4 Dougans was lost when a convoy, on the Minh Thuan Road, was ambushed by the V.C. on July 9, 1966. He was born in Washington, DC but lived and is buried in Page County, Virginia.

Thomas A. fox

PFC Thomas Fox was killed in a VC ambush on May 6, 1968. the following was taken from the Find a Grave site. Written by another soldier and sent to Thomas' cousin who was actively seeking information about him.

 "...each man carried a box of machine him ammo to distribute the weight. It was noisy and we were on a heavy firefight. I was calling for ammo and here comes 'ol T-Fox low crawling toward me with his can of ammo dragging beside him. He reaches out to hand the can and I reach out to grab it. Our hands are touching and he is hit in the head. I yell for the medic, Doc, Doc, Fox is hit. Doc crawls over, checks him, and says he's gone. That's exactly how it happened. I think about him all the time. Hope this helps. He fought well..."

It is odd that I just complained about lack of information and I run across one that actually tells a story. 

Next time, on September 4th, we will return to Washington, to honor others so worthy of our admiration and never ending respect. Join me there, at 9:00 am., as always.

If you are following along at all, you will have seen that a number of you, like Joan from Wisconsin, Tony from Texas, Mike from Maryland, Ron from Florida, Tim from Virginia, Molly from Florida, Colleen from Pennsylvania, Elli from Maryland, and Peg and Ray from Florida, among others, have responded to my request to send me memorials you have seen in your area or where you may have traveled. I even got one from Ireland! These submissions help expand the knowledge of how we have remembered the men and women who served and/or were lost in 'Nam and you help to honor them. If you have any such photos, I would love to see them. Please send them along to the email at the left and I will gladly share them here.

I hope all those listed here will encourage you to send along photos and join the group!  

Vermont XIV

I have posted from the unique memorial at Rutland, Vermont before. It is a great story and you can see it here, if you missed it the first time.

I managed to find a few names of our lost brothers from Rutland, and I will feature a few of them today.

Edward A. Birmingham

On October 2nd, 1967, PSG Birmingham was leading his men across a rushing, fog encased river when the VC opened up on them.

 "...One of the platoon members became entangled in the rope while the enemy leveled fire at the men on the life line. Platoon Sergeant Birmingham plodded into the river to save the endangered man. During his rescue efforts Sergeant Birmingham was swept away by the powerful current. It was not until days later that his body was found down stream..."*

PSGT Birmingham lost his life while attempting to save another on October 2nd, 1967 in the Quang Nam Province. 

 

Allen H. Archer

SFC Archer was lost by small arms fire in March 22, 1967, only two months after arriving in 'Nam. 

 

Joe K. Fish

LCPL Joe K. Fish was killed near Hue on February 19, 1968 by hostile small arms ground fire. It was the Tet Offensive and was a terrible time for all. 

Next time, on August 30th, we will return to Virginia, to honor others so worthy of our admiration and never ending respect. Join me there, at 9:00 am., as always.

If you are following along at all, you will have seen that a number of you, like Joan from Wisconsin, Tony from Texas, Mike from Maryland, Ron from Florida, Tim from Virginia, Molly from Florida, Colleen from Pennsylvania, Elli from Maryland, and Peg and Ray from Florida, among others, have responded to my request to send me memorials you have seen in your area or where you may have traveled. I even got one from Ireland! These submissions help expand the knowledge of how we have remembered the men and women who served and/or were lost in 'Nam and you help to honor them. If you have any such photos, I would love to see them. Please send them along to the email at the left and I will gladly share them here.

I hope all those listed here will encourage you to send along photos and join the group!  

Utah IX

Price, Utah calls their memorial to many wars The Peace Garden. I have featured it in the past and you can check out that post here.

 

 

 

On the base of the statue are listed names of the lost. When I first saw it, I mistakenly thought there were five, but five more are listed on the other side. I do not know if that was by design or if the numbers changed over time. It is fairly rare to find a memorial that has not had additions made with the passage of the years. 

 

Today, I will honor three of the ten. 

 

Robert R. Anderson

 

Sp4 Anderson had only three days left before rotation. He was killed on March 16, 1967 at Tay Ninh when his truck hit a mine. He never had a chance to meet his new born son.

 

Richard P. Donathan

 

LCPL Donathan was lost on August 10, 1966 in a fierce battle with the NVA in Quang Tin Province. He was from Colorado and is remembered on the North Slope Memorial but is buries in Price City, Utah and is honored, too, on the memorial in The Peace Garden.

 

Johnny S. Martinez

 

LCPL Martinez deliberately entered a mine field to rescue two Vietnamese children who had wandered into it. He accidentally triggered a mine which mortally wounder him. He lost his live on November 28th,1968 in the Quang Nam Province. A Hero two times over.

 

Next time, on August 25th, we will return to Vermont, to honor others so worthy of our admiration and never ending respect. Join me there, at 9:00 am., as always.

If you are following along at all, you will have seen that a number of you, like Joan from Wisconsin, Tony from Texas, Mike from Maryland, Ron from Florida, Tim from Virginia, Molly from Florida, Colleen from Pennsylvania, Elli from Maryland, and Peg and Ray from Florida, among others, have responded to my request to send me memorials you have seen in your area or where you may have traveled. I even got one from Ireland! These submissions help expand the knowledge of how we have remembered the men and women who served and/or were lost in 'Nam and you help to honor them. If you have any such photos, I would love to see them. Please send them along to the email at the left and I will gladly share them here.

I hope all those listed here will encourage you to send along photos and join the group!  

Texas

In Mineral Wells Texas is a wonderful museum and memorial site. Called the National Vietnam War Museum you can view my previous posts here and here.

One of the dominating features of the site is a memorial Wall to Camp Holloway, named for the first soldier lost at the site in 'Nam. Part of what makes this Wall unique is that the home of the lost is listed along with their names. I have seen memorials that name the counties of the lost but never anything this specific.This wall is a replica of one that was first built in Pleiku in 1966 to honor those lost at Camp Holloway.

Today, I will post some info about a few of the lost from Texas. 

Norman R. Garrett

Pvt Norman R. Garrett was one of seven who were killed in a February 7, 1965 Viet Cong attack on Camp Holloway. He was transferred to Ft. Sam Houston in Texas were he died of head wounds. He passed on February 15th.

George Markos

Cpt. George Markos was injured in the same February 7th attack on Camp Holloway. His chopper was shot down during the attack, he died from those injuries.

Freddy D. Dobson

Pfc Dobson's chopper was attempting to resupply a village at Phaun Son in the Quang Tin Province when it was shot down. Sadly, he had been married just six months before his loss.

Next time, on August 20th, we will return to Utah, to honor others so worthy of our admiration and never ending respect. Join me there, at 9:00 am., as always.

If you are following along at all, you will have seen that a number of you, like Joan from Wisconsin, Tony from Texas, Mike from Maryland, Ron from Florida, Tim from Virginia, Molly from Florida, Colleen from Pennsylvania, Elli from Maryland, and Peg and Ray from Florida, among others, have responded to my request to send me memorials you have seen in your area or where you may have traveled. I even got one from Ireland! These submissions help expand the knowledge of how we have remembered the men and women who served and/or were lost in 'Nam and you help to honor them. If you have any such photos, I would love to see them. Please send them along to the email at the left and I will gladly share them here.

I hope all those listed here will encourage you to send along photos and join the group!