New Jersey XXXIII

The memorial in Runnemede, NJ sits along the highway and I happened to see it as I sat in dead stopped traffic: Silver lining!!

It lists many names of those who served.

Buried among the many who served (120) are two KIAs and I want to honor them today. I am somewhat surprised that there are only two

The first if these is:

PFC Gilch was lost on July 21, 1966. The location of his loss is listed as "unknown."

 LCPL Haley was lost on September 1st 1967 at Thua Thien.

I ask you to join me on the 21st of June when we will return to New Mexico and a rare opportunity to honor one of the intrepid women who served in Vietnam, 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.

New Hampshire VIII

I began this post with the intention of honoring those from Canaan, New Hampshire who made the ultimate sacrifice in Vietnam.

 

I had identified five names from the memorial in Canaan as you can see below. As I started looking for their pictures on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund's (VVMF) pages, I soon learned that in fact, happily, only one of those listed had been lost: the others apparently served.

                                                                                   

These following two are among the several others who served. I will list and honor the remaining few at a later date.

 

 

I ask you to join me on the 16th of June when we will return to New Jersey, 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.

Nevada VIII

I have written before about Henderson. It lies south of as Vegas and you can check out that post here.

Today, a tribute to the heroes listed as KIAs from Henderson.

this day has unfolded in a much different manner than I anticipated.

Originally, I had pulled some names from what was identified as the KIA memorial section of the Henderson memorial.

I had five names that I wanted to honor. I started looking at the Wall of Faces from VVMF and was surprised to not find the name I was looking for.

Odd, I thought, but VVMF admits that it is still missing a few names, so I didn't give it too much thought.

But, I couldn't locate a face for the second name either. Or the third or fourth. I called City Hall in Henderson and they tried to be helpful, but could not actually help. They did direct me to the specific information they did have, but I couldn't find what I needed.

I started checking other sites that have this type of info and soon learned that none of the names from the Henderson Memorial KIA panel were lost in 'Nam. 

But, I, also, learned the names of a number of men from Henderson who were lost in 'Nam, so today, as planned, I will honor a few of them today.

 

Jack Edward Cossins

 

Wallace Hopkins

Lowell Lunzman

 

I do not know why these heroes are not mentioned on the Henderson Wall. Perhaps I will contact them again to find out. It is completely possible that they have been added since my visit which was actually some years ago.

For now, however, I will simply ask you to join me on the 11th of June when we will return to New Hampshire, 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.

Nebraska XXI

 I have written in the past about the heroic service of dogs in the past.

Over 4,000 dogs served in 'Nam of whom 350 were killed, ( many by disease) 200 returned home and the rest were handed over to the ARVN or simply abandoned as excess material to fend for themselves as we left Vietnam.

The bastards that made that decision got so much grief and push back about it that the a law was passed in 2000 requiring that service dogs be returned home after service. Called "Bobby's Law" it was signed by President Bill Clinton so that "nothing like this can ever happen again!"

Today, I feature the names of a couple of the lost heroes that I found on my journeys. While I have seen several memorials to these noble creatures around the country: Georgia, Ohio, Nevada, and Pennsylvania to name but a few, these come from Antelope Park in  Lincoln, Nebraska. Antelope Park, by the way, is well worth a visit if you are ever in the area. It is filled with tributes to those who have served our country.

These are but two. There was another "Terry" here and a "Wolf " and a "Chip" among others.

In researching additional material for this post, I was pleased to find that there are dozens and dozens, if not hundreds of sites throughout the country dedicated to "War Dogs" and other service dogs like Police dogs and Arson dogs. I an sure the list goes on.

Next time, on the 6th of June, we will revisit Nevada, so, join me, 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.

Memorial Day 2025

I ran across this article in several places. I have heard of this before and decided it would be appropriate to post on Memorial Day.

 

World War I Memorial, Gallipolis, Ohio

 

"You're a 19 year old kid.

You are critically wounded and dying in the jungle somewhere in the Central Highlands of Viet Nam .

Its November 14, 1965 . LZ (landing zone) X-ray.

Your unit is outnumbered 8-1 and the enemy fire is so intense from 100 yards away, that your CO (commanding officer) has ordered the MedEvac helicopters to stop coming in.

You're lying there, listening to the enemy machine guns and you know you're not getting out.

Korean War Memorial, Washington, DC

                                                      

Your family is half way around the world, 12,000 miles away, and you'll never see them again.

As the world starts to fade in and out, you know this is the day.

Then - over the machine gun noise - you faintly hear that sound of a helicopter.

You look up to see a Huey coming in. But.. It doesn't seem real because no MedEvac markings are on it.

Captain Ed Freeman is coming in for you. He's not MedEvac so it's not his job, but he heard the radio call and decided he's flying his Huey down into the machine gun fire anyway.

Even after the MedEvacs were ordered not to come. He's coming anyway. And he drops it in and sits there in the machine gun fire, as they load 3 of you at a time on board.

World War II Memorial, Washington, DC

 

Then he flies you up and out through the gunfire to the doctors and nurses and safety. And, he kept coming back!! 13 more times!!

Until all the wounded were out. No one knew until the mission was over that the Captain had been hit 4 times in the legs and left arm.

He took 29 of you and your buddies out that day. Some would not have made it without the Captain and his Huey.

Medal of Honor Recipient, Captain Ed Freeman, United States Army, died at the age of 81, in Boise, Idaho.

God bless our vets."

I don't know exactly whom to credit for this, I found it in a reprint from Stars and Stripes, Face Book, Wikipedia, and several other places. 

Thanks and kudos to the originator.

So, there are 29 whose names you will not find on The Wall or any other memorial thanks to the bravery of Ed Freeman and his crew. 

More than one million have died defending our country or our allies and this is the day we honor them.

And here is a reminder:

Armed Forces Day, the third Saturday of May and it honors those serving.

Memorial Day, Last Monday in May and it honors those that died while serving.

Veterans Day, November 11 and it honors those who served.It is said that they "hung up their uniforms."

 

So, as I always end these posts, I will ask you to enjoy the weekend/holiday but take just a moment to recall exactly why we carve out this time every year .

 

Vietnam Memorial, Washington, DC

     

Next time, on the 1st of June, we will venture, again, to Nebraska to honor some different heroes and to honor a few of the fallen, so, join me, 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.

Montana VIII

 

Some years back, I happened upon a roadside memorial in Dillon, Montana with quite a remarkable story. Take a couple of minutes and check it out here and here.

Today, as I have been doing lately, I want to put a few more faces with names. I have been calling this subset of posts "Faces of Remembrance " and you can find examples throughout these pages, some lost and some not. So honor these from Montana with me today.

I note that this is the same hero honored in Bedford, PA. You can see that post elsewhere on this site.

I did a search of VVMF's Wall of Faces and, happily, found none of these names and while there are still a few pictures missing from the Wall Of Faces, I choose to believe that these men made it home.

Next time, on the 26th of May, Memorial Day this year, we will honor all of the fallen, so, join me, 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.

Mississippi X

Mississippi was the state that started it all. I tell some of that story here if you care to take a look at the earliest posts on A Means To Heal.

While visiting I noticed that there were a number of names listed without actual photos, so now all these years later, I decides to see if any of those photos had been found through the efforts of the VVMF's efforts to put a face to every name. According to WLOX there are still 65 photos missing from the memorial. This seems high to me so i will post any new info if I run across it.

This project, originally intended to present a picture of every face at the (now defunct) Education Center at The Wall in DC.

 

 

As I mentioned in an earlier post, when I took these photos I was not thinking about posting individual faces, so I did not properly record the names. If you know these men, please let me know and I will gladly update. 

These faces and most of the 669 lost from Mississippi can be found at the Ocean Springs Memorial, about 10 miles East of Biloxi, Mississippi on Rte 90. Watch for it on the right as you head East.

Next time, on the the of May 21, we will venture, again, to  Montana to honor a few of the fallen, so, join me, 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.

Next time, on the 21st of May, we will venture, again, to Montana to honor a few of the fallen, so, join me, 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.