Wisconsin XX

Again, I rely on Joan from Wisconsin to supply me (as many of you have) with today's post info. As previously stated, she sent me some pic she took of a traveling Wisconsin tribute to those from her state who were lost.

These pictures, like all the others from this grouping, have been extracted from  much larger group photo of them all. That photo can be seen here. So the quality, after having been cropped and enlarged and generally fooled around with, is not as great as I would like but, I think the point is still made: these men deserve our respect and admiration.

There is little I can say about these men, these heroes all, that has not been said by others at other times so I will just let their faces say it.

This post falls into my sub group that I call Faces of Remembrance. You can see all of the faces collected by the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund's The Wall of Faces here, ( https://www.vvmf.org/Wall-of-Faces/) Most, if not all, states have pictures of all who were lost or are missing from their state.

Next time, on September 5th, we will return to Arizona, so join me there, as usual, at 9:00 am.

To see additional memorials from Wisconsin, or any other state, please click 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, Mike from Maryland, Ron from Florida, Tim from Virginia and Molly 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 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.

West Virginia XXI

So, this post will exhaust my faces from Morgantown High School. There are seventeen in all and these are the last two.

Each of them "gave all" for their country and represent, here, all from west Virginia. West Virginia lost the most, per capita, of any state and their efforts will always be honored by A Means to Heal and hopefully all who see these pages: and all others.

One of West Virginia's 9 Medal of Honor recipients is among these seventeen and he can be seen here in one of the several posts from this site.

 

Next time, on the 31st, we will return to Wisconsin, so join me there, as usual, at 9:00 am.

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

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 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. I even got one from Ireland! 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.

Pennsylvania LXV

It is interesting to see the various ways artist represent or interpret our memories of Vietnam and our efforts there.

I have written before about how artist rarely use likenesses of actual people in their renditions of soldiers in their work. The exception to this, of course, is when they honor a specific subject like a Medal of Honor recipient for example. 

Most often they choose a variety of characteristics from different people: eyes from one person, nose from another. This helps prevent legal issues about their work down the road.

Today, I want share two faces from two different statues in Pennsylvania. The differences are quite stark and represent two different approaches to this issue.

The beautiful memorial in Reading features a lone soldier ( you can see my original post from Reading here and here.)

The artist opted to make him faceless, a face (a life?) destroyed. Perhaps a statement: unusual and gripping at any rate.

 

 

In nearby Pottstown, the artist went in the opposite direction emphasizing the pain, disillusionment, the 1000 yard stare resulting from too much seen.(Original post here.)

I, of course, am making some assumptions here as I have no first hand knowledge of just what the artist had in mind. I have seen literally hundreds of memorials in the 15 years I have been on this journey and am making an educated guess. 

I would like to hear what you think.

Next time, on the 26th, we will revisit West Virginia. Join me there, as always, at 9:00 am.

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

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 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. I even got one from Ireland! 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.

North Carolina XXV

Broadway, North Carolina has a marvelous veterans memorial. We have visited it previously and you can check out those posts here and here.

I noted in the original posts that there are a couple of different lists of those who served in 'Nam and that I did not see any explanation for the difference.

These names are all marked as KIA from Vietnam forward. This is not the case with those from previous wars listed here. I am trying to track down the correct information. I will update if I am able to do so.

Today, as promised, I will feature a few of those from Vietnam all of whom are designated as KIA. 

These are but a few of the many from various wars remembered and forever honored here.

 

   

The memorial was built with donations and is expected to be a place of gathering and celebration of our way of life. Water fountains, picnic tables park benches, and lighting are available for those wishing to honor and celebrate these heroes..

It is located at 210 South Main Street.

Next time, on the 21st, we will return to Pennsylvania, so join me there, as usual, at 9:00 am.

To see additional memorials from North Carolina, or any other state, please click 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, Mike from Maryland, Ron from Florida, Tim from Virginia 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. I even got one from Ireland! 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.

New York XXXI

We have visited Eisenhower Park a couple of times in the past and like so many of these larger sites I keep finding new things to share. You can see some of those past visits here, and here.

We so often speak of The Vietnam war or just 'Nam and it easy to forget, or at least, not mention Laos and Cambodia. Places that for such a long time we denied even being in. Eventually the truth won out, as it usually will, but we still don't speak too often of these involvements.

338 Americans were killed in Cambodia and 1525 were wounded, 12 MIA.

638 Vietnamese allies were killed and 3,009 wounded, 35 MIA.

 

 

American carpet bombing is estimated to have killed between 50 and 150 thousand, most believing that the number is at the higher side of this estimate.

 

728 Americans killed in Laos, mostly, but not entirely, CIA. 

I was unable to find additional information about Laos. Much information seems to be still secret.

Next time, on the 16th, we will return to North Carolina, so join me there, as usual, at 9:00 am.

To see additional memorials from New York, or any other state, please click 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, Mike from Maryland, Ron from Florida, Tim from Virginia 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. I even got one from Ireland! 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.

New Mexico XXIX

Returning to Lordsburg for me is easy. It is such a wonderful and inclusive site. It includes Vietnam, 9-11, First Responders and more. I will concentrate, of course, on the Vietnam components. I mention the others to encourage you to check it out if ever in the area.

The Wall here honors the many who served from the area in a variety of wars. 

The following are but a very few of the sons and daughters of Lordsburg who served in our efforts.

As I looked at the Wall I did not see any names of those lost. A check in with VVMF's Wall of Faces Identified these two from Lordsburg:

PO2 Ben G. Dugan 

LCPL Magdaleno Tarango

Rest in Peace, brothers.

And, finally for today a reminder of those whom we promise to never forget.

 

 

 

Next time, on the 11th, we will return to New York, so join me there, as usual, at 9:00 am.

To see additional memorials from New Mexico, or any other state, please click 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, Mike from Maryland, Ron from Florida, Tim from Virginia 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. I even got one from Ireland! 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.

Nebraska

I have made many posts from the site of the Nebraska Vietnam memorial.  

It is located in Antelope Park in Lincoln. 

While reviewing photos from the site I came across this smaller one. It appears to be located in the same park but I can find no verification of this, or for that matter, any information at all about it. I watched a nice video of a walk through the many memorials in the park and it did not appear and various google searches turned up nothing. I am hoping that perhaps you know something about it or have better searching skills than I do.

So, help me out. Somebody knows about this and I hope you will let me know so that I can pass on the info. As you can see below, if you do, you will join the ranks of others who have helped improve this site.

Next time, on the 6th, we will return to New Mexico, so join me there, as usual, at 9:00 am.

To see additional memorials from Nebraska, or any other state, please click 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, Mike from Maryland, Ron from florida, Tim from Virginia 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. I even got one from Ireland! 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.