Michigan V

Michigan, like some others I am finding, has at least two major Vietnam Memorials. This one located in Island Park, in Mt. Pleasant, was built by vets. Completed in several stages, it now includes a wall of names of those KIA/MIA, a number of flags and the aforementioned statue,"War Cry." The park and the memorial sit on the Chippewa River and the first completed component of the site was a bridge connecting the site to the ball fields on the other side of the river. The other parts of the memorial were added over time.

Listed on the wall are the 2654 KIA/MIAs from Michigan. One of the things that is unique (at least this far) is that both Michigan sites list all the names of those lost or unaccounted for at this time.

The statue is the same one mentioned earlier where I met a vet "giving my brother a drink" which led to the visit to and signing of the Jeep he and his "brother" dedicated to all vets. If this is your first visit to this site, scroll back a few posts and you will find this wonderful story.

This memorial was built before the one at the state capitol in Lansing and thus is the "memorial" the one in Lansing is called the Michigan State Vietnam Monument. I will post on that one very soon. It too is a great site.

Interview With Ohio Veterans Memorial Park

Just a quick note to let you know that I was recently interviewed by the great folks from the Ohio Veterans Memorial Park. It was really a cool thing to have happen and I really am grateful to have been able to participate.

If interested, you can check it out here;

ovmp.org

Posts about this great site in Clinton, Ohio will be up shortly, so watch out for them.

I would be interested in hearing what you think.

Michigan IV, Heck Park II

Here are the pictures I did not post on the last page. They include additional photos of the memorial itself, the clergy site (note that Chaplains were dubbed "Sky Pilots") and a plaque and a tree dedicated to POW/MIAs.

There are bricks around the walkways dedicated to any number of veterans, among these are stones to George A. Custer, Rolling Thunder and any number of individuals.

This is a great park and, again, if in Michigan, please visit, it covers a lot of territory!

Michigan III, Heck Park

The Monroe County Vietnam Memorial (not too far from Detroit) is named for Army Captain Norman W. Heck who was lost in action in 1964. This park is interesting because the people of Monroe County chose to build a memorial to all who served, and an adjacent memorial to all who perished or are MIA. In addition there is a separate memorial to the only remaining MIA from the county. Further, there is a memorial to the ever growing number of those who have perished as a result of their service and sacrifice long ago. These memorials are becoming more common as we age and the aftermath of agent orange (currently, Diabetes and 21 kinds of cancer) become recognized and take their toll as the "wounds that never heal."

The site consists, also, of two era choppers, (Huey and Cobra), the tribute to women mentioned earlier on this site, a memorial to Clergy, and the "Chained Eagle" representing the need for a full accounting of POW/MIAs.

A unique feature is that the Clergy memorial depicts an impromptu "alter" of stacked C-ration boxes.

In an effort to make the park more family friendly, a museum has been added and a playground and picnic area. The museum was closed on the day that I visited.

You can find additional details here;

http://www.vietnamveterans142.org/Heck%20Park.htm

The address is;

Captain Norman W. Heck Park
1095 North Dixie Highway (near Interstate 75)
Monroe, Michigan 48162

This is a lovely and fitting tribute to Captain Heck as well as all others who served and I recommend that you visit if in the area.

As I posted the pictures from this site, I realized that I have many more than is allowed per post, so I will post the others on the next page.

Pennsylvania IV

I really liked this memorial, so I decided to include it, even though it does not precisely meet the criteria of Vietnam Memorials.

The Prospect Hill Cemetery, in York, Pa. built this site to honor anyone who had been awarded the medals of Valor. It sits high on a hill overlooking the cemetery. The most intriguing component, I suppose, is that the lintel across the top is an actual piece of the World Trade Center. So, you might say that the site also pays homage to the 9-11 victims and heroes, as well.

You can find more information at;

http://www.prospecthill.org/CourtOfValor.htm

Pennsylvania III

Not far from York is a town called Red Lion and I had heard that there was a memorial there. I went to the city offices and they directed me to the town Veterans Memorial. It is one, like so many is smaller towns, that is dedicated to all veterans.

While I was talking to the extremely helpful woman at the offices, she asked if I had seen the Court of Valor, at the cemetery, in York? I was not familiar with it so I went back to check it out. Perhaps I will post some pics of it in a later post.

Red Lion lost three loved ones in 'Nam and their names are inscribed on back of the monument, which stands in a city park.

Pennsylvania II

I returned to Pennsylvania and went to York, Pa. because I had heard of the new memorial built there. It turns out that it was dedicated on October 3 of 2009. When I arrived there was a gentleman there and we started talking and he told me that he had just taken over the Memorial Committee Chairmanship two days earlier.

He walked me around the memorial pointing out features that one might not have noticed otherwise. For example; the eagles on top were actually created for a different memorial, but when the originators of that memorial backed out on the artist, the Vietnam committee grabbed them up to add to this site. In addition, he told me that when the wind blows hard enough, it catches the wings of the eagles and actually move them into different positions atop the memorial.

He showed me where one soldier's name had been misspelled on the pylon and rather than try to correct it (impossible) or ignore it, they re-carved the name on the other side of the pylon. I think that is just classy!

He showed me where they had just repaired some vandalism and pointed out the last commemorative bricks that had just been placed the day before. Additionally, he explained that one of the figures in the triad is a woman, a nurse, as depicted by the fact that she is wearing no hip gear, as are the two soldiers.

The third picture here is the reflection of some of the commemorative bricks in the base of the memorial

I particularly liked the stones at each entrance admonishing all who enter; "This is hallowed ground, tread respectfully"

This is a beautiful site that is located at the York Fair Grounds and is well marked through the city, so it is not difficult to find. The gentleman, also, told me that they are in the process of making the site more accessible to those with health issues of one kind or another.

Good job, York!