South Carolina IX

We have visited Patriots Point, near Charleston, in the past and today I want to feature names from the 896 (I have, also seen 980 from other sources) dog tags on display at this really outstanding site.

All of these names are from York, South Carolina:

Jonny Phillip Costner

SGT Jonny Costner was lost in Ninh Thuan Province "non-hostile...other causes..." on November 10, 1970. Sadly, it was reported that he took his own life.

This is the best photo I could find

On March13th 1971 SP4 Robert Good was lost in the Binh Dinh Province reports disagree about the cause of his death. Some sources report "accidental homicide" while others say, "intentional homicide...."

Abraham Harris

PVT Abraham Harris was lost at Long An on October 13, 1967, to "multiple fragmentation wounds..."

It is interesting and a little disturbing to learn that of the three soldiers lost from York, South Carolina that one was murdered and one committed suicide.

I repeatedly whine about the lack of information about our lost soldiers, but the lack of good pictures is another issue. I recall that we were all taken, during basic, to have portraits taken. Was this only at Ft. Bragg? I assumed that it was done everywhere, perhaps not. Please comment if you did or did not have a photo taken.

Next time on May 28th, we will return to South Dakota, so join me, as always, at 9 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 ( now two) 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.

South Carolina IX

I've not spent too much time in South Carolina but some of the memorials there are quite beautiful. the one in Columbia, the state memorial, is pretty amazing and you can see my original posts of it here.

Today, I have tried to pull some of the faces depicted upon the memorial. These, like so many, were taken before the idea to create the Faces of Remembrance series ever occurred to me, so there are not all I hoped they might be, but, I still want to honor them.

Difficult to see but a pilot in flight headgear.

Members of several branches are featured and you can tell that some have worn over the years. I wonder if there is a program to help restore them. I have seen this at other sites and if you click on Kansas, to the left, you can find a post about a restoration project I just happened upon at the University.

These faces represent and honor the 980 South Carolinians who were lost in 'Nam. The memorial is located in Memorial Park in Columbia.

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

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

South Carolina VIII

I have visited Patriots Point in Charleston in the past and have posted several photos from the extensive Vietnam compound elsewhere on this site.

But, my friend Mike Minnick visited more recently and shared these pics of a memorial that was not there when I visited or somehow I just missed it. Stranger things have happened.

 

 

This dog tag memorial was placed in 2014 during a visit from the  AVTT Vietnam Wall memorial. Many visited and this memorial was permanently placed.

 

 

 

The individual tags of the 896 South Carolinians were placed by local Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts.

 

Next time, on the 5th of December, we will return to Virginia, so join me there at 9:00am.

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

South Carolina VII

I have written before about Patriots Point. I keep coming back to it because it is the one site I have visited that replicates, to some degree, actually being in 'Nam. the folks here have done a magnificent job of creating a Navy Technical Support Base. I know that there is something akin to this, Army I think, in Florida but have not yet been able to get there.

When this damn pandemic allows me to get back on the road, I hope to visit. Like many of us who were in country, I am highly susceptible to this stuff, so I wait, sometimes not as patiently as others.

The towers always attracts me, there is only one here and this is just a slightly different view of it.

South Carolina VI

Conway is in Horry County, South Carolina, not too far northwest of Myrtle Beach. At the corner of Elm and third stands this memorial to all those from the county that were lost.

As is so often the caw, additional names were found that should have been included on the face of the memorial. These names were added to the reverse side and upon inspection, I found something odd.

Note the last of the four names. He died in 1995. I do know of at least one case where a vet from Illinois was in a coma for 30 years and only, relatively recently added to the Illinois memorial in Springfield. I could find no information about this soldier, so I am counting on you to get in touch if you have any information. I have made this request before and have gotten details about other mysteries. So, folks, let me hear from you if you can help. I'd like to know and be able to tell his story

So, next time, on the 4th, look for a special post, at 9:00am as always.

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

South Carolina V

Beaufort, South Carolina is one of those remarkably beautiful places that you never forget. Lots of water, Spanish moss and all the things that my mind, at least conjures up when I think of the deep South.

We, Steve and I, actually, only spent one night here. The hotel we stayed in was managed by by an Army vet, now retired and she went out of her way to look out for us.

The memorial is located  right on the water in Henry Chambers Waterfront Park. I tried taking a few shots at night when we first arrived but was not particularly happy with them. so the next day, I got these to honor the 13 from the area that were lost.

   

     

The complete inscription reads:

    Dedicated to Those Who Selflessly and
Willingly Served Their Nation During
The Vietnam War.

Their Hearts Were Tempered In Fire;
Their Souls Forged On The Anvil Of War.
No Glory Of The Moment Was Awarded,
Yet History Will Keep And Honor Them Forever.

NOR SHALL YOUR STORY BE FORGOT,
WHILE FAME HER RECORDS KEEP.
O'HARA  

I couldn't end this post without posting a couple of pics showing the beauty of this place. I hope you enjoy them.

The above shot is taken from just beyond the memorial and the one below is about 90 degrees from it.

Next time, on the 21st, we will return to South Dakota. Meet me there, as always, at 9:00am.

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

South Carolina IV

Not so very far from Columbia is Sumter. Named after the same person as South Carolina's famous Fort Sumter and home to both a beautiful 911 memorial as well as tribute to the 30 from the area who paid the ultimate price in Vietnam.

Located at Civic Plaza, just a brief walk from the firehouse is this memorial.

I find the face of this particular soldier quite interesting. It is,at once, classically Greek and, somehow, young and innocent. In my travels I have found that many of us appear tougher than I, at least, felt in 'Nam.

The names are listed upon this side of the memorial, now 30 years old, and are showing their wear. It was hard to read them and even more difficult to get a photo that does these lost men justice.

At the base, we, as we are so often, bidden to remember.

The memorial may be found in Civic Plaza which is on Magnolia Street, between E. Hampton Ave. and E. Calhoun Street.

Our next visit will be to South Dakota so, join me there on the 7th, as usual at 9:00am.

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

South Carolina III

I was actually in the Army's Navy. During the 'Nam era, the Army was said to have more watercraft than the Navy. Not battleships and the like, of course, but all kinds of vessels. I was trained on a number of them and spent some time running up and down the Mekong delivering everything from food to tons and tons of munitions. So, the Navy connection is very strong for me. We even did much of our training at Norfolk! As Army guys, you know we took some heat from the sailors, but we gave as good as we got, but in actual training exercises, we were all on the same team. Patriots Point in South Carolina, as mentioned in my last post, has the usual attractions of ships, planes and memorials. It goes a step, a large step, beyond these; it has recreated a Navy Technical Support Base, the only one in the country. It is like stepping back into 'Nam. Years simply slide away as you walk through the barbed wire encompassed area.

 

The ubiquitous sandbags. Once, while on "Light Duty" due to a recent, severe illness, I was assigned to sandbag duty and I remember that over that 10 day period I, personally filled over 8,000 sandbags. The crew that had been assigned to me filled many many more and we never knew where they went, but I was glad when my "Light Duty" was over.

 

Ammo dumps, like this one were everywhere. I once saw one go up, hit by something, it was like the 4th of July. You would never leave a chopper this close to a dump.

We were always escorted by these PBR's as we ventured down the river. They were always welcome company. We were, for all intents and purposes, unarmed. We had a few M-14's aboard but nothing else, so the twin 50 cals on these were our primary defense.

On the 6th, we will revisit South Dakota. Join me there at 9:00am.

To see other posts from South Carolina, or any other state, click the state name on the left side of this page.

South Carolina II

In Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, near Charleston, is one of the largest and most interesting sights I have visited. It is the home of the air craft carrier the U.S.S. Yorktown, a submarine, and other ships, a Medal Of honor Museum and other sights I will tell you more about in a later post. Today, I want to show you the memorial to the 161 from South Carolina's 1st Congressional District who are honored here.

The memorial could hardly be more simple. Four stones, reminiscent of grave markers, that dedicate the site and list all of the names. Surrounded by some field stones it rests just at the entrance to the larger park area. In fact, if you were not paying attention, you might just miss it.

 

In addition to this one to the 161, I found a couple of others throughout the park. The first is dedicated to those lost in Vietnam, who were members of a group called The Seawolves. The Seawolves were an Attack Helicopter Squadron and 44 of their pilots and door gunners were lost.

 

The final one that I saw was to a Medal of Honor awardee. Major Patrick Henry Brady, on one particular day in Vietnam, went through three choppers in fog shrouded areas to rescue 51 seriously injured soldiers. The three choppers were all seriously damaged but he managed to get those guys out.

Next time, on March 1st, I will show you a sight you can only see in South Carolina. At Patriots Point they have constructed a Navy Advanced Technical Support Base, the only one of its kind. I think it is easy, sometimes, to forget that not only the Marines and the Army fought valiantly in 'Nam. This Support Base brings that all home. So, join me at 9:00am on the 1st to take a step back into history.

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

South Carolina

We drove on to Columbia, South Carolina next. We decided to try out my new GPS and it worked like a charm, took us right to the memorial park.

This particular memorial, at one time, was said to be the largest aside from D.C. It is really beautiful and has some unique components, like Shakespeare's Band of Brother's quote engraved upon the surrounding edge.

A feature not seen before is that after each of the 980 names engraved on the wall is the exact date of the loss or the day they became MIA. MIA's are denoted by a star next to their names. In addition, the names are grouped by county of residence.

There are several etchings on the central pylon depicting scenes from from the war and on the Plaza in front is a slightly raised and labeled map of Southeast Asia. Steve and I were able to point to the places we were and were surprised that he never got as far south as Saigon and I never got as far north as the Capital.

We did not have much time so this is the only site we got to in South Carolina. South Carolinians are very proud of their sons and daughters who served and the state has built numerous monuments and memorials to them. I hope to be able to return to honor more of these fallen heroes.

The memorial is located in Columbia City Memorial Park, on Gadsden between Hampton and Washington Streets.