Delaware VII

Last time I promised a very special post today, however, it is not quite ready, so hopefully very soon. In the meantime, I decided to post this which I have held off on doing as will be explained below. Enjoy.

Very early in my travels, in fact in August of 2009, I wandered into a place in Townsend, Delaware. I saw a sign along the road referring to Vietnam vets and made the left turn into a nearly hidden area.

Driving slowly down the gravel road, through the area surrounding bushes and shrubs, I came face to face with a Huey. Gives one pause.

Further exploration revealed a compound like area with a pavilion, a memorial and a number of campers on site. I could find no one present so I took a few pictures and moved on. I wondered if I had been on private property and violated anyone's privacy or rights. I never posted those pics because I was unsure of these questions.

Today, I came across them, once again, and wondered about this site some more. I was able, this time, to come up with a phone number ( I tried in the past and was not successful) and had a great chat with one of the members. He assured me that he had no objection to my posting the pics and invited me to return as they have added a number of things to the site. I will be doing that in the near future and will post about this site again then.

For today, I will share just a couple of the pics from that initial visit.

The main feature of the site, all those years ago, was this Huey, now a tank, among other things, has been added to the site.

The boots represent a lost member of the group.

At the base of the flag pole rests this reminder of why they are there and the purpose of this on going endeavor. There will be more on this feature in the future post. The fellow I spoke with today says that it has been renovated and upgraded since I was last there.

I have commented before about the differences between what I call "corporate or state" memorials and those actually created by vets. I love them all. this journey would not have been possible without them, but I do have a spot in my heart for these created by us. they are , to me, the most heartfelt, the most primitive, if you will, and therefore, "real".

So hats off and many thanks to the members of the Vietnam Veterans M.C. at Fire Base Lloyd in Delaware for their service in 'Nam and their service now. Great job, guys!

Next time, on the 5th of April, we will slide down the east coast to check out another site in Florida, so join me there, as usual, at 9:00am. I may have that special post ready by then and will slip it in if possible.

To see other sites from Delaware, or any other state, click the state name on the left side of this page.

Colorado XI

Just a few more shots of interest from the Western Slope Memorial.

The first shot is of the Vietnam Service ribbon near the chopper.

The next is a donation from the Vietnam Vets Motorcycle club.

The next one is of a time capsule that is to be opened in the future.

The last one brought home a number of memories for me. I carried one of these ammo boxes with me every time we were on the water. If I have not mentioned it before, I was a boat operator and spent a lot of time running up and down the Mekong river. These were claimed to be waterproof, so I carried anything I needed to keep dry in one I picked up somewhere in my travels. When mustering out of 'Nam, it was confiscated by the Army, so I lost it. So, to see this one here was kind of cool, someone got one out!!

I think this post will do it for now from Colorado. Time to move on. I will post a few more from Colorado at some future date, so keep checking back for them.

Next, I will be in New England, again, so join me on the 26th for something new.