California LII

Someone sent me a picture from, California and asked if I was aware of the site. I recognized it immediately as one I visited years ago. I was sure I had posted about it but discovered that I must have only thought about doing so, as it is nowhere to be found here.

 

About 11 miles slightly Northeast of Sacramento, Carmichael claims to have the first Vietnam memorial in California. It is located in the Koobs Nature Area which must have been closed on the day I ventured there. I couldn't find a way in.

I ended up climbing a fence to gain access. (Boy, are those days behind me!) I've since read that the site has limited access, so that may have been my problem.

Students at La Sierra High School wanted to pay tribute to their fallen classmates and constructed the memorial in a metal shop class.

 

Originally dedicated to 14, 15 when I visited, and I have recently learned that the total is now, 18. Changes in the number of honored at these sites change all the time as new information is found. For those who may not know, names are added to The Wall in DC on a regular basis. One wonders if we will ever reach the end.

 

I remember reading somewhere that the memorial is actually made from mining equipment but have been unable to verify that. 

Great job from a bunch of thoughtful, dedicated High school kids.

Next time, on August 11th, we will return to Colorado, so join me, as always, at 9 am.

If you have been 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, Molly from Florida, Colleen from Pennsylvania (now three times!) Elli from Maryland and Peg and Ray from Florida, among others have responded to my request to send me memorials you have seen in your area or from where you have traveled. I even got one from Ireland!

These generous submissions have help to expand the knowledge of how we remember and honor the men and women who served in or were lost in Vietnam.

If YOU have any such photos or knowledge about these memorials and sites not already here, I would love to know of them. Please send them along to the email address on the left side of this page and I will gladly share them here.

I hope seeing all these listed here will encourage YOU to send along photos and join the group! 

California LI

It is nice today to be back, if even briefly, to my original goal of writing about memorials. 

Today, from Westminster, California a memorial built by the large Vietnamese population there. I have posted before about the memorial honoring American and Vietnamese partners and at the site in the ensuing years several additional memorials have been added. 

You can see the first memorial honoring Americans and Vietnamese here.

This adjacent memorial honors the 74 Vietnamese lost in a sea battle with China in January of 1974.

In reading more about this Battle of the Paracel Sea, it is hard to connect it to the war in 'Nam except that the dates coincide. Also, as I will point out in a future post, there are several plaques seen in the third picture address U.S. involvement in some way or another. It is confusing, but, war always is.

Next time on the 19th we will return to Colorado, so join me there, as usual at 9:00 am. 

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, Molly from Florida, Colleen from Pennsylvania, Elli from Maryland, and Peg and Ray 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 and/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.

I hope all those listed here will encourage you to send along photos and join the group.

California L

This is the 50th post I have made from California. When I started this project in 2009, I thought I might post four pictures of memorials from each state.

Circumstances changed all that and now 55 from California, amazing to me.

It is fitting I suppose as California with its nearly 40 million in population is, perhaps not surprisingly, the state that lost the most of her citizens. More than 350,000 served and 5,822 were killed. These numbers vary a bit depending on whose source you read.

Today, we return to the Nixon Library, a place I never thought I would see, to visit an exhibit about bringing home the POWs. It is quite extensive and interesting. You can see previous visits here and here.

With the publication of Kristin Hannah's book The Women which tells story of the heroics of the Nurses in Vietnam, I have been thinking more lately about how women served, participated, and influenced our efforts in the war.

This brought me to this table, in a corner, at the library.

It shines a light on the efforts of the wives of the POWs, their efforts to bring home their husbands, brothers, Uncles: our comrades.

It may be impossible to ever know exactly just how much influence or weight these efforts may have had upon the history of and the lives of our captured fellows, but, most certainly, it helped.

Our gratitude and debt to these can never be overestimated.

Next time, on the 7th of March, we will return to Colorado, so join me there, as usual, at 9:00 am.

To see Vietnam memorials from any state or Canada, Ireland, and Puerto Rico click on the individual names 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, Colleen from Pennsylvania, and Elli from Maryland, 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.

California XLIX

As promised prior to my winter holiday break, today we are back on track and in California. 

Westminster is one of my early stops on this journey and to witness, and share with you, its remarkable growth is a highlight for me.

This small park, named Sid Goldstein Freedom Park is full of monuments and heroes.

When I first visited, in 2011, there was only the single memorial to the two vets: one American and one Vietnamese. You can see that post here.

Now, there are several more, see one of them here,

Westminster has a large Vietnamese population ( the largest in Orange County) and they have not forgotten their history and losses, nor our sacrifices and contributions.

Here they honor some of their heroes of the war.

 

Black April recalls the fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975. It is difficult to believe that in a few short months it will be the 50th Anniversary.

The City of Westminster remembers this day each year. 

See more here: Warning this is not intended for the very young and may be triggering for some others.

https://www.westminster-ca.gov/government/city-channel-wtv/black-april

Next time, on the 14th of January, we will return to Colorado. So, as always, join me there at 9:00 am. 

To see Vietnam memorials from any state and Canada, Ireland, and Puerto Rico click on the individual names 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, Colleen from Pennsylvania, and very soon Elli from Maryland, 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.

California XLVIII

As Veterans Day approaches I want to feature a few of those highly deserving of the honor of being called veterans. 

These following pictures are from the Nixon Library in Yorba Linda. They are POWs who were freed at the end of the war. 

Regardless of what you may think of the war and its stated purposes, no one can deny that these paid a terrible and lasting price. 

They deserve our honor and respect.

Next time, on November 9th, we will return to Delaware, 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, Colleen from Pennsylvania, and very soon Elli from Maryland, 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.

California XLVII

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.

California XLVI

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.

California XLV

Outside the Offices of Traci Park in Westchester, CA is this memorial to those who served and those lost in 'Nam.

It honors those who served and those who paid the highest price.

25 are honored here with 19 being lost. That feels like an out of proportion loss to me.

I have requested information about what seems to be an astronomical proportion of the lost.

I will update if I find anything.

Next time, April 1, we will take another look at Canada. I found a couple of memorials on a trip there last fall. So, as always, join me there 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.

Once more I will ask anyone who has pictures of Vietnam memorials not shown here, to send then to me and I will include them (giving you full credit.) Any number of you have added knowledge and honor to this site by doing just that. It is always appreciated and makes this effort better, more completed. Thanks to those who have contributed and to anyone who will do so now or in the future.

California XLIV

I have been reading about the Living Memorial Sculpture Garden in Weed, California for quite a few years and dreaming of visiting to see all that is there there.

The problem is that Weed is not really close to anywhere. I have made numerous inquiries about how to get there but they all present a number of problems: its distance, the cost to fly, and at one point wild fires in the area. Anyway, I haven't gotten there.

So, imagine my delight when I heard that Molly Macdonald, a fairly frequent contributor here, was going to be in the area.

I asked her if she visited to forward some pics to me.

She very kindly did. So, today I want to share just a couple of them with you and over time several more.

The Garden honors many from Korea and Vietnam and more generally war itself. and unsurprisingly, I will focus on Vietnam.

The Garden rests about 13 miles from Weed, very neat Mt. Shasta

I have read that this wall of names was added sometime after the Garden opened in 1988.

LTC. Cozzalio is one of the founders of the Garden.

As I correspond with Molly, I hope to include many more photos from this astounding site and I hope to actually visit myself at some point, but as I said above, it is many miles from a major airport: 349 from Portland, 611 from L.A., 284 from San Francisco...

Next time, on the 22nd, we will revisit Colorado, so meet me there as always at 9:00am.

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

Thank you, Molly, once again!

Molly is one of a number of you who have responded to my request for photos of memorials that you have seen, but I have not. 

So in that spirit I will ask again. Please send any memorials that you may have seen in your area or in your travels and I will gladly feature it here (and give you full credit!) There is a an email address on the left side of this page.

California XLIII

 I post this particular memorial here today for only one reason.

That it has been driving me crazy for many years. As I have stated before, I spend a lot of time reviewing my files trying to find something I think might be of interest to you, my readers.

I keep coming across this memorial and have never been able to figure out just where it is or why I happened to photograph it. Admittedly, my filing system and skills seems to ebb and flow, better sometimes than others.

So, over and over again I came across pictures of this site. Not these pictures, these are new. No notes, no obvious identifying signs, no objects within the pics to help me figure out what had happened.

I gave up. The heck with it!

Well, recently, I happened to be in California once again. I was driving down the street, looking for someplace to eat: and there it was. I immediately parked the car and went over to see just what it was.

Here, at last, is the Ventura Veterans Memorial. Yeah, I know, not specifically Vietnam, but a remembrance for us all.

The, now, ubiquitous POW/MIA flag must have drawn me to the site originally those several years before. Asa I have written before, the flag was created by the wife of a Vietnam POW and has since become the everlasting reminder of All lost and/or left behind. 

This, of course, is completely fitting and correct, but to me it will always be "ours." 

Did you know that the POW/MIA flag is, in fact, a Federal flag? It is to be flown at equal height as the U.S. Flag, except as you see it here, on a single pole. Too often, you see it below State flags and this is incorrect, it should be above any State flag if on the same pole.

Each of the Services is honored here, too.

So, now, at last, I can move on. The mystery has been solved. (You really have no idea how much this has bothered me for a number of years) I'm a little disappointed that it it not a 'Nam memorial, but pleased to have rediscovered it.

Next time, on the 6th, we will revisit Colorado, so join me there, as usual, at 9:00am.

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

If you follow along here you know that I always ask readers to send me any memorials, that I have not featured here, that they may have seen, I promise to give photo credits (which might only matter to professionals) and hope that some might do so. A number of you have honored me and our fellow vets by doing just that and I hope this will encourage more of you to get in touch.

If you have photos, please send them to the address at the right side of this page.

California XLII

In 2015 I visited Fresno, California to see the tribute to thousands and thousands of Lao Hmong people who gave their lives supporting our troops in 'Nam.

At that time, I do not think that i was taking "portraits" of the few statues I actually came across in my travels. I don't actually recall, but whatever, I did not do it at this site.

I have made an attempt to pull these faces out of this memorial to share in my ongoing, subgroup, Faces of Remembrance series. I hope you will grant me some allowances as these pictures are not always of the quality I strive to achieve in my photography. BTW, you can see the original post from Fresno here.

These two Hmong warriors are attempting to save this downed American pilot.

 Fresno is home to one of the largest Hmong populations in the world. 

The memorial rests in Court House Park, outside the Fresno County Courthouse on Van Ness Avenue. You can read more about these brave friends and allies here.

Next time, on the 8th, we will return to Colorado, so meet me there, as usual, at 9:00am.

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

California XLI

I wrote, briefly, about Redondo Beach some time back and decided that it is now time to do a more complete post. You can see the original here.

As mentioned in the previous post a new memorial has been completed on this site. 

Literally steps from the Pacific Ocean, this beautiful site is dedicated to many.

Those who served are remembered here along with the lost on the original memorial posted earlier.

I have placed a call to the people responsible for this beautiful tribute to see if i can gather any other interesting information. You may count on the fact that I will update with anything I learn.

This was a lucky stop for me and I hope I will find additional info for you, but in the meantime, join me on 4th when we will return to Colorado, as always, at 9:00am.

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

I will ask, as I do at the end of nearly every post now, for anyone who has pictures of Vietnam memorials not seen here to please send them to me. I will give you full photo credit for the pic and any information about it you may know. Check your state, or anywhere you may have visited, from the list at the left, or any place else. Please send them to the email at the left or directly to me at Ldddad@comcast.net. Thanks!

California XL

Coronado Island is not actually an island, but a peninsula. I could find no explanation for why it is called an island. That, however is neither here nor there. It is a remarkably beautiful place with some of the world's finest beaches and is the home to the famous Hotel del Coronado and just two miles from San Diego.

It is, also, home to the Coronado Amphibious Naval Base and the site of a beautiful memorial to the 2,564 Navy and Coast Guard members who gave their lives in Vietnam. Most of these in what is called the Brown Water Navy. 

I have written before about how I served in the Brown Water Navy, even as a Army member. We trained at Ft. Eustis, Virginia and at Norfolk Navy Base. Running up and down the Mekong River, we were basically unarmed and were often escorted by our better armed, Navy comrades. The PBRs had many other duties, but we were always grateful for their presence and support.

The memorial on the base is quite magnificent and I have posted previously about some of its components. You can see that post here.

 Today, we will concentrate on the main memorial.

 

The names of these honored fallen are listed on several of these plaques attached to The Wall.

The memorial is located near the intersection of Tulagi Road and Rendova Circle on CISM Field.

Note:  If you do not have a DoD ID card, you must make previous arrangements to enter the Base. See Their web page for directions.

Next time, on the 13th, we will return to Colorado, so join me there, as always, at 9:00am.

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

I will ask, as I do at the end of nearly every post now, for anyone who has pictures of Vietnam memorials not seen here to please send them to me. I will give you full photo credit for the pic and any information about it you may know. Check your state, or anywhere you may have visited, from the list at the left.

California XXXIX

I ventured into the Naval base at Coronado while visiting the San Diego area a few years back. They have a large "Wall" commemorating those lost in Nam that I will write about in the not too distant future, but, today I want to show you this much smaller memorial that I found close by.

It honors the more than 200 "Gamewardens" of Task force 116 who were lost. TF-116 patrolled the waters of the Mekong Delta driving the Viet Cong into the smaller tributaries where the PBRs and larger boats could not go.

Just behind this obelisk are a couple of the vessels representative of the types these guys spent their time on.

These operations are considered the most successful of the Navy's efforts in 'Nam. The kill ratio was said to be 40/1.

I was a member of the "brown water Navy" even though I was Army. We (the army guys) trained at Norfolk Naval base and Ft. Eustis in Virginia. 

We ran supply of all types down the Mekong River, mostly to Dong Tam and Can Tho. As we were unarmed, except for a couple of M-14s, we were escorted by Navy PBRs while in river-ways. I don't know if they were these guys in particular, but we were mighty glad to have them along, as we sometimes caught fire and rockets from the Cong.

So, I was happy to see these guys commemorated individually from the larger Navy memorial here.

Once again, I would ask that any reader who might have pics of Vietnam memorials not found on this site to send them to me. I will be happy to include them here and give the sender full credit. I would like to make this site as comprehensive as possible and my ability to travel to every site out there is limited, so, let me know what you have. 

Next time, on the 29th, we will return to Colorado, so join me there, as always, at 9:00am.

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