Oregon XVI

While driving through Oregon we stopped at a fast food joint and got talking to the folks there. One of them asked (as someone nearly always does) if we knew about the memorial in Hubbard? She told us it was nor too far from where we were and that it was on the way to our next planned destination.

Well, of course, we went and while it is a nice memorial, I didn't see its particular connection to Vietnam. Other than the names on the plaza stones, 'Nam is not mentioned anywhere.

The memorial specifically to Marion E. Carl has quite some detail about his remarkable career, but not a word about Vietnam.

Detail from above photo

 I did some research on him and was just astounded by his achievements.

Among these are his service in Vietnam. He was well along in his career by this time but still flew numerous combat missions in both choppers and jets. He, also, refused all personal medals for his service in 'Nam

In 1964 he was promoted to brigadier general; in 1965, he took the First Marine Brigade to Danang, South Vietnam. Despite his seniority, he repeatedly flew combat missions helicopter gunships and in jet fighters.

Take a couple of minutes and read more about him here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marion_Eugene_Carl

It is somewhat ironic that a man can serve his whole career in the military, get more medals than you can count, hold various records for flight and then, in the end, be killed in his own home by an intruder. Read all about it at the site listed above.

Next time, on the 19th, we will return to Pennsylvania, so meet me there, as always, at 9:00am.

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