Arizona XXIII

I have long been a fan of Bisbee, Arizona. Mostly because it is the setting of a series of books that I read by local author J.A. Jance, but also because I have visited it a couple of times and it it is quite beautiful, a little funky, and very interesting.

Maybe 90 minutes south of Tucson and very close to the border it offers much to see and do. And, it turns out it is the home of two Vietnam memorials at least that is what I thought I knew.

Here is the only picture I have seen of the memorial. Said to be a multi-war memorial honoring those who fought in several of our most recent wars, up to and including Vietnam.

Photo by Bill Kirchner found at The Memorial Day Foundation website www.thememorialdayfoundation.org

When I arrived in Bisbee I started my search for the site, to no avail. I wandered around and around, asking advice from the Mayors Office, the local police, I called Veterans groups, stopped citizens on the street, and went to the local historical society. Most had absolutely no idea what I was talking about, all tried to be helpful, but nothing, nada, zip, zilch. The historical society confirmed that I was indeed looking in the correct spot, but no idea where it might have gone or what happened to it.

The spot today looks exactly like the picture above without the memorial. It sits at one end of a very small parking lot with the above bushes still in place. the gentleman from the historical society suggested that, perhaps a car or truck had hit the memorial, but it was just a guess.

I did find the other memorial in Bisbee at the local high school, and will feature it at another time.

Next time however, on the 3rd of August, we will return to California, so join me there, as always, at 9:00am.

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