Tennessee X

One of the highlights of my trip to Soddy-Daisy, Tennessee was a visit to the memorial there, after a great meeting and breakfast with the guys from VVA 942.

The site is described in greater detail in previous posts that you may read  here and here.

 

Soddy-Daisy, Tennessee memorial

There are only six from the area remembered on the memorial and today, I will honor three of them. 

James A. Benton

LCPL Benton was on a helicopter leaving a ship when it crashed into the ship. His body was never recovered. He was lost on April 27, 1967 and, I believe, is the first MIA I have tried to honor here.

James R. Potter

 SSG. Potter's chopper was shot down In Tay Ninh Province on September 11, 1969. He was RECON for the famous Big Red 1.

John D. Reynolds

 

PFC Reynolds was lost at Quang Tri on September 9, 1967. His death on September 8th was due to an artillery attack.

Next time, on August 15th, we will return to Texas, to honor others so worthy of our admiration and never ending respect. Join me there, at 9:00 a.m., 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!  

South Dakota XXIV

Some time ago, I posted from Garretson, S.D. a town of a little over 1,200 people as of the 2020 census. You can see that post here.

There were only four names on their memorial and today, I will honor two of them. 

William L. Hill

Pfc Hill was on guard duty when he stepped on a land mine in Gia Dinh Province. He was lost om May 1, 1968. His body was recovered and is buried in South Dakota. His full profile reads that he was killed by "misadventure" "Friendly fire" I wonder if that means the mine was one of ours, or something else?

Robert V. Reker

LCpl Reker was only in 'Nam two months before he was killed by "hostile" "fragmentation" wounds. He was lost at Quang Nam Province on June 13, 1969.

Next time, on August 10th, we will return to Tennessee, 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!  

Rhode Island XIII

North Smithfield has a somewhat different memorial as seen in the picture below. I featured this site a while back ( you can see that post here ) and today, I want to feature a few of the several listed upon it.

The following are among the heroes commemorated here.

Leo J. Atteridge jr

Pfc Atteridge was killed by small arms fire at Thua Thien on March 13, 1968.

Rene A. Bois

Sp4 Bois was lost while working at an ammo dump at Binh Long which exploded on December16, 1968. Tragic.  

Fred T. Carter

Pfc Frederick T. Carter was a victim of hostile ground fire while missing. He was lost at Long Khanh on December 16, 1967.

These men along with many others to follow will always be remembered as long as we say their names. 

My hope is that posting them here will provide an additional opportunity to honor them forever. 

Next time, on August 5th, we will return to South Dakota, 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! 

Pennsylvania

As I have posted before, this is the memorial at Butler, PA. It is the first, I think, at which I saw a POW bracelet represented. There is also one in Mobile, Alabama, and I cannot recall if I have run across any others. Let me know if you are aware of any.

These three are listed among the numbers upon the stones.

Today, I honor them: 

Larry L. Fowler

 Cpl. Fowler was lost on 11/27/69 at Thua Thien. 

 

Andrew J. Fritsch

 

 SSG. Fritsch was born on the 4th of July and gave up is life on August 10th, 1970 to small arms fire Tay Ninh. One comment I read noted that he was a Staff Sgt, leading men to battle and sometimes their deaths, including his own, and was too young to drink a beer.

William H. Goedeker

PFC Goedeker was lost on August 24th 1967 at Quang Tri on the last day of his Field Service.

R.I.P. brothers

So, as we move through the states and the names of our brothers and sisters, next time, on the 31st, we will revisit Rhode Island to honor a few more of the fallen.

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!

Oregon XXII

Driving south in Oregon eventually got me to a high school that honors its lost alum with a memorial just outside the building. I wrote about it previously and you may check out that post here, if you like.

South Eugene HS lost 11 0f its former students.

Today, I will, as is my custom, honor three of them. 

William R. Andrews

"On 5 October 1966, then Capt. William R. Andrews was the pilot of an F4C Phantom on a strike mission over North Vietnam. His aircraft was #3 in a flight of four. After the mission, the flight was directed to fly escort for a flight of two B-66s. A MiG alert was issued after which it was noticed the number three aircraft was not in the formation. No radio contact was received from the missing aircrew, but a short time later, a beeper was heard. Radio contact was subsequently made with Bill Andrews and he reported he was uninjured. Because North Vietnamese forces were approaching his position and search and rescue (SAR) personnel were receiving heavy ground fire, he could not be recovered. According to one report, as the enemy closed in on the downed pilot, Bill Andrews was supposed to have "started shooting it out with ground forces," and "one of his last transmissions was 'I have taken a hit'." The co-pilot had landed far enough away from enemy fortifications that he eventually was rescued. The location of loss was in the extremely rugged jungle covered mountains approximately 115 miles northwest of Hanoi and 20 miles east-northeast of the city of Na San, Nghia Lo Province, North Vietnam. A later coordination of records showed that Bill Andrews was listed Missing in Action, not Prisoner of War by Defense Intelligence Agency and the Air Force, while the Joint Casualty Resolution Center (JCRC), Bangkok, Thailand carried him as a prisoner, not missing. JCRC was ordered to "delete any references pertaining to POW status" in Capt. Andrews' case. The reasons behind that order were never made unclear. On 13 September 1990, Bill Andrews remains were returned to the United States. According the US Army Central Identification Laboratory - Hawaii, his remains were identified "by comparison of teeth root canals in the jawbone." He was buried with full military honors in Phoenix, Arizona on 14 February 1991."

Robert K. Collins

 

 

Cpl Collins was an Artillery and was lost under enemy engagement. 

James W. Cartwright

I read a post today from the man that Sgt. Cartwright replaced as a point man. The Sgt was killed three days later and the writer feels tremendous guilt these many years later. To those of us who, for whatever reason survived, this is a well known feeling.

I have written before about the fact that I got my orders home a few days early. On that same day, waiting to get on a plane, I received word that our camp had been hit hard and several guys I knew were lost. I get it.

Next time, on the 26th, we will revisit Pennsylvania, so, meet me there, as usual, at 9:00 am.

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!

Oklahoma X

Hulbert Memorial

 

Grover Boston

Cpl. Boston was lost on May 2, 1968. Even more tragically, he was a loss to "friendly fire."

William A. Gritts

Cpl. Gritts was an 11B (infantryman) and was lost on June 13, 1968 at Gia Dinh. He was killed by hostile fire from a gun or small arms.

Thomas Mckinzie

 Cpl. McKinzie was lost in the Quang Ngai Province on November 17, 1968. He was lost to hostile fire.

The reason I chose these three for inclusion today is that they were all lost in 1968. For an area that seems to have lost only five, it seems that '68 was an unholy year for them.

I ask you to join me on the 21st of July when we will return to Oregon to add and honor a few more faces, as always at 9:00 am.

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!

Ohio XI

As has become my habit, I was looking through files today to see if I had anything I might have over looked in the past.

As I reviewed my pics from a Veterans Park near Canton, I came across one name. I do not remember if it was the only one there or just the only one I photographed. Back then, I was more interested in memorials rather than individual names as I was still trying to see memorials from each state.

Times change. 

Having visited each state, most more than once, I have fulfilled my original goal and am currently trying to honor many of the men and women who served or were lost. I will continue to seek out memorials as I travel. there are new ones in Louisiana and Nebraska that I hope to get soon.

Finding only this one name got me thinking that there simply must be more, so I found a site with names for specific areas and have been studying it for additional heroes to honor. 

The Veterans Park was in Stark County, near Canton. So far, I have identified 27 with many more on the list.

So, for today, a few from Stark County:

Ward Leroy Anthony

Cpl. Ward Leroy Anthony was killed in a motor attack at Thua Thien near Hue' on April 17, 1968.

David Lee french

The following is from his Remembrance page at VVMF's Wall of Faces:

On the 1st of January 1968, a helicopter from the 61st Assault Helicopter Company became the first aircraft loss since the unit was declared operational in Vietnam on 20 December 1967. The crash of the UH-1H took the lives of its four crew members plus six passengers on a mountain in the An Khe Pass. Marginal weather was blamed in the mishap. The crew included aircraft commander WO1 Ronald L. Martin, pilot WO1 Peter Kretzchmar, crew chief SP4 Clarence H. Genau, and gunner PFC Phillip A. Tingley Jr. The six passengers were CAPT Peter S. Kleinberg, CAPT Frank Velazquez, SFC Felix A. Sisario, SP4 David L. French (emphasis mine), SGT Norman R. Anderson, and SP4 Thomas B. Griffin Jr. 

Ronald Lee Hacker

 

 

 

Sgt Hacker was killed on April 3rd, 1969 in a battle near Kontum. He saw one of his men, helping another who was wounded, get wounded. He ran to his aid and was himself fatally wounded.

These three are among the many that I have now found from Stark County, Ohio. I will feature others as time goes by.

I ask you to join me on the 16th of July when we will return to     to add and honor a few more faces, as always at 9:00 am.

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!