Oklahoma VII

Gano, Oklahoma is located about 75 miles north east of Oklahoma City. My cousin Dan who lives in OK. took me there and I was stunned at the size and scope of their Veterans Memorial. I never actually saw the town so I tried to find a little info about it online. There is virtually nothing.

Anyway, here a few of the pics I took that day.

The site is quite large and has a number of stones listing names of the many that served, Medal of Honor recipients, and other interesting facts.

Also, there is huge anchor and two different tanks.

There are a couple of these citing the major battles of individual wars. Note the dates of Vietnam; 1965 to 1973, I have commented, often, on how we can't even agree on when the war was fought. As I type this I am watching the Ken Burns The Vietnam War program on PBS and in it he cites the first American killed in 'Nam (albeit in a mistaken shot) as Col. Dewey in 1945. I have often mentioned TSGT Richard Fitzgibbons as the first killed after the dividing of the county in 1954. He was killed in 1956 after a number of US solders were sent in 1955, and there were others that followed.

This one lists all those lost in various wars from the Revolution through Desert Storm. I wonder if it has been updated since. If I am ever able to find out, I will update here, too.

Next time, on the 26th, we will venture once again to Pennsylvania, so join me there at 9:00am.

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

Kansas VII

In Lawrence, home of the previously posted University of Kansas memorial, I found this small field Cross at a local Army reserve Center. Located at 2100 Iowa Ave, at the S. J. Churchill Army Reserve Center, I thought I was not going to be able to tell much of a story.

Then I was doing some reading and found that a local man's name had been left off of the state memorial in Junction city. The man had been born and raised in Lawrence, but his family moved about the time he entered high school. So, his new home became his place of entry in to the service and, therefore, his name was listed on the memorial in his new home, Utah. His family never felt completely at ease with this and pursued having his name included upon the Kansas memorial. They always considered Lawrence "Home." After quite some time and effort, his name was added to the Kansas state memorial. This caused me to wonder if his name had been included on this local Lawrence memorial?

The original written info I had stated that the Lawrence memorial named 14 lost, so I thought it was completely reasonable to think he might not have been remembered, here. I knew there were more and hoped that this site had been updated.

As you can see, all 18 from the area are forever honored at this site and Laurence Binyon's now famous quote is seen here, too.

 

Just today, I learned that Ken Burns is producing a 17 hour documentary on Vietnam. Due out in 2017, it should be interesting to see if, or how, it differs from the iconic PBS version of Stanley Karnow's Vietnam.

Next time, join me in Louisiana for a small town memorial. Check it out on the 27th at 9:00am.

To see other memorials from Kansas, or any other state, click the states name on the left of this page.