West Virginia XIII

The West Virginia Vietnam memorial is in Charleston, the Capitol. It is part of a larger memorial to the several 20th century wars and each has a statue of a representative soldier.

West Virginia, per capita, lost more citizens than any other state in 'Nam and more than 36,000 served and according to the latest numbers I can find 1128 were lost. A number that is much  higher than when I first wrote about West Virginia, at that time it was said to be 762.

This face represents and honors them all.

Next time, on the 19th, we will revisit Wisconsin, so join me there, as usual, at 9:00am.

To see additional memorials from West Virginia, or any other state, please click on the state name on the left side of this page.

I will ask, at the end of every post now, for anyone who has pictures of Vietnam memorials not seen here to please send them to me. I will give you full photo credit for the pic and any information about it you may know. Check your state from the list at the left.

Washington XXI

When I last wrote of Washington, I discovered that I had completely overlooked the wonderful Spokane memorial. You can find that post here. Today, I want to focus on the face of the statue. In this ongoing Faces of Remembrance segment I hope to capture the emotion of the subject and the skill of the artist in capturing it.

So, here he is, the sole representative of the 300 named here. To me, he seems war worn, tired, resigned. I wonder what you see? Let me know at the email on the left.

The memorial was created by Deborah Copenhaver Fellows and it can be found in River Front Park.

I played around a bit with the image, and after some effort, I still think he looks tired and sad.

Next time, on the 14th, we will revisit West Virginia. Meet me there, as usual, at 9:00am.

To see additional memorials from Washington, or any other state, please click the state name on the left side of this page.

I will ask, at the end of every post now, for anyone who has pictures of Vietnam memorials not seen here to please send them to me. I will give you full photo credit for the pic and any information about it you may know. Check your state from the list at the left.

Virginia XXVII

Mathews, in Mathews County lies about 70 miles due East of Richmond. My friend and fellow photographer, Mike Minnick, visited and found this memorial and as always, graciously, sent it on to me.

It was originally a WWII memorial but was rededicated in 2003 to include what have become known as The 20th Century Wars. It does, however, not include anything beyond Vietnam. Perhaps it will be updated once again.\ in the future.

I have found little information about it and as always, I invite anyone with additional knowledge to get in touch. You will find an email address to the left.

The original 40 WWII lost have been joined by their brothers from other wars.

Our three lost brothers are here. 

Note the dates of the war. I am never sure, as I have stated often here, whether these numbers are intentional revisionist history or something else. Facts demonstrate that the first solder lost in Vietnam was TSGT Fitzgibbons who was killed in 1956, the year following our first entry into Vietnam. (The first American was killed in 1945 in what turned out to be an accidental shooting. The Vietminh were aiming at the guy next to him!)

Next time, on the 9th, we will revisit Washington, so meet me at 9:00am.

To see additional memorials from Virginia, or any other state, please click on the state name on the left side of this page.

I will ask, at the end of every post now, for anyone who has pictures of Vietnam memorials not seen here to please send them to me. I will give you full photo credit for the pic and any information about it you may know. Check your state from the list at the left.

Pennsylvania XXXVII

It was a wet and cold day when I finally got to head to Pennsylvania once again. I had just finished up in Reading (you can find that post here) and decided to see what else was in the area. I had read that there was a small memorial in Pottstown which was only about thirty minutes away, so off I went. 

The memorial was pictured as a small four sided memorial to several wars and was supposed to be on a particular corner, but when I got there, I could not find it anywhere.

I found a place to pull over and started hunting on-line once again, thinking that maybe I had gotten in wrong. I found something about a park in the town with some memorials and headed over.

The park had several full sized memorials in it but I didn't see one to 'Nam. All there was was this gazebo and a sign about an All Veteran Walk of Honor. There were lots of names and some were honoring those lost in Vietnam. Nice, but it was not what I had expected or hoped it would be. (I'll feature that Walk in a later post.)

 

I walked up the steps into the gazebo just to look around, and there, out behind it I found this.

I have often spoken about how I have never been "weathered" out of a photo. I've been in rain, snow, 117 degree heat, etc., but always got the pic and you can see that the weather on this particular day was not the best but I couldn't pass up this great site.

The "plaza" in front of the memorial has a continuation of the many, many names on the Walk of Honor.

We will return to this site in the future, there is a lot here and it deserves to be seen.

I have said previously that my buddy Steve and I have run into situations before where memorials we had info on turned out to be incorrect and we have talked about and learned a bit about persistence. What started out as an effort to photograph what was by all accounts a rather small, somewhat nondescript memorial turned from disappointment to finding this wonderful site honoring so many.

Next time, on the 4th of May, we will return to Virginia, so join me there, as always, at 9:00am.

To see additional memorials from Pennsylvania, or any other state, please click on the state name on the left side of this page.

Oregon XIX

One more in the Faces of Remembrance series on this site. 

Oregon City is the home to this unassuming, difficult to find memorial to one who was awarded the Medal of Honor. My buddy, Steve, and I drove around for quite sometime attempting to locate it. We finally pulled into a parking lot in the area and were about to ask for some help when we spied it, off in a corner, in a copse of trees. 

I've written about the memorial itself before and you can find that post here.

Today, as is the focus of this subset of posts, just the face.

Here is some additional info regarding this hero:

SPECIALIST 4 DAHL WAS ASSIGNED TO 359TH TRANS CO, 27TH TRANS BATTALION, 8TH TRANS GROUP. HE WAS KILLED IN ACTION WHILE ASSIGNED AS A MACHINE GUNNER ON A GUN TRUCK NEAR AN KHE, BIN DINH PROVINCE, 23 FEBRUARY 1971. AN ENEMY HAND GRENADE WAS THROWN INTO DAHL'S TRUCK AND REALIZING THE DANGER, DAHL'S TRUCK AND REALIZING THE DANGER, DAHL SHOUTED TO HIS COMPANIONS AND THREW HIMSELF DIRECTLY ONTO THE GRENADE HE SAVED THE LIVES OF THE OTHER MEMBERS OF THE TRUCK CREW WHILE SACRIFICING HIS OWN. FOR HIS COURAGE, CONCERN AND EXTRAORDINARY HEROISM, SPECIALIST LARRY DAHL WAR AWARDED THE CONGRESSIONAL MEDAL OF HONOR POSTHUMOUSLY.

 

This information was taken from the Memorial Day foundations site. Check out this important organization here: 

https://www.memorialdayfoundation.org/

 

 

Here is a photo I found on the Congressional Medal of Honor website.

 

The memorial may be found near the intersection of Tumwater Drive and S. 2nd Street.

Next time, on the 29th, we will return to Pennsylvania, so join me there, as always, at 9:00am.

To see additional memorials from Oregon, or any other state, please click on the state name on the left side of this page.

North Carolina XVIII

High Point is a city about 20 miles southwest of Greensboro. Known by many as the furniture manufacturing capitol of the country and it is also home to many sports stars, writers, entertainers and James Dickey, author of Deliverance. Interestingly, it also the only city in North Carolina that lies in four countys.

The memorial there is a multi-war memorial honoring several different wars.

The memorial sits upon a plaza that is covered with the names of many who served and a variety of supporters.

No names on the memorial itself, but we are remembered among the several other 20th Century involvements listed here.

Next time, on the 24th, we will return to Oregon, so join me there, as always, at 9:00am.

To see additional memorials from North Carolina, or any other state, please click on the state name on the left side of this page.

New York XXVII

Once again I find myself in a quandary. I have asked my readers to send me pics of sites not seen on A Means to Heal, and some of you have done so (thank you again). I am still interested in anything you might have!

My friend Mike Minnick who has so unselfishly shared his pics in the past sent me the ones that follow. They are from Berne, New York, but that is all I know. I have searched and searched the internet, but as is so often happens, I cannot find a single word about them.

As always, I appeal to you: please contact me if you know any information, there is an email on the left side of this page.

Obviously, they are from what is called a multi-war memorial, but it, also, seems that there is a statue, perhaps of a fireman.

This particular type of memorial, in case you have not been here before, is called a Field Cross. Its origins date back to the Civil War and was a way for soldiers to mark where a comrade was lost. It is interesting sometimes to visit memorial sites and note the subtle changes in these markers through the years. It becomes quite natural to be able to tell what war a soldier was lost in by the type of boots, rifle or helmet that is depicted.

As stated this is a multi-war memorial and the names inscribed upon the bricks honor so many, from so many wars and service.

This small sample represents and honors those listed, and those not, for their willingness to serve their fellow man.

Next time, on the 19th, we will revisit North Carolina, so meet me there, as usual, at 9:00am.

To see additional memorials from New York, or any other state, please click on the state name on the left side of this page.