California LVI

Before beginning today, I want to salute and honor those who fought and died on this date eighty years ago. helping to bring an end to the war and Fascism in Europe they became, rightly, called The Greatest Generation. We owe them our everlasting respect and gratitude. 

Take a moment today to recall their sacrifices.

It seems fitting that California has the greatest number of posts on this site as the state has the highest number of her citizens lost in the war. No one really knows which state has the actual greatest number of memorials or for that matter how many memorials there are in the Country.

Vietnam Veterans of America tried to keep track of all this but eventually had to give up the effort.

One of the first I saw in the state, back in 2011, was in Westminster in Sid Goldstein Freedom Park. At the time it consisted of  the plaza, statue and flame you see below and was quite impressive.

Today, I want to feature, as I so often do, the faces of the soldiers from the statues here. For those unfamiliar, I call this effort, this sub-grouping of photos, The Faces of Remembrance Series inspired by the effort to gather a actual photograph of every name on The Wall. This effort was begun in 2001 and completed in 2022 with the goal of featuring them all at the (now defunct) Education Center to be built near The Wall. All photos can be found at the VVMF's Wall of Faces on-line.

My efforts are a mixture of photos, sculpture, and other likenesses that I find on my journeys.

On a trip last year I was amazed at how much has been added to the site and I will feature these additions as time goes on.

Next time, on the 11th, we will venture back to Colorado, so meet me there, as always, at 9:00 am.

To see additional memorials from California, or any other state, please click on a state name on the left side of this page. Please note that Canada, Ireland, and Puerto Rico have been added to the list.

If you are following along at all, you will have seen that a number of you, like Joan from Wisconsin, Tony from Texas, Tim from Virginia, Mike from Maryland, Ron and Molly from Florida have responded to my request to send me memorials you have seen in your area or where you may have traveled. These submissions help expand the knowledge of how we have remembered the men and women who served 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. Thanks, once again, to all who have contributed.