California LXVII

Not in my wildest dreams did I ever think that I would visit the Nixon Library in California. However, I heard somehow about a display about his role in the Vietnam war and couldn't resist going to see it.

It is quite extensive and spends much time on bringing POWs home.

These are a few of the pics I took (in very poor light with no flash allowed)

Nixon assured us he had a "Secret Plan" to end the war and did in fact bring home the POWs in 1973. I was a little surprised that the there were 591 POWs held: 325 Air Force, 77 Army, 138 Navy, and 26 Marines along with 25 Civilians.

This rather simplistic demonstration of what was said would happen if we did not prevail in 'Nam. Called the Domino Theory, it turned out to be incorrect like so much of what we were told.

This medal laden boot was part of a larger display, but there was no specific information about it, I just found it interesting.

I will post further features of the site from the museum at a later time. there are several themes that I hope you will find interesting and perhaps a little informative, especially if you are younger than those of us who served.

Depending on which route you take, you will find the Library in Yorba Linda about 30 to 40 minutes southeast of Los Angeles

Next time, on September 15th, we will revisit Colorado, so join me there, as usual, at 9:00 am.

To see additional memorials from California, 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.