I had planned to feature some names taken directly from one of my photos. I started checking them out on the VVMF Wall of Faces site and, oddly I thought, could not find them. I thought I had discovered an error in the records keeping.
Silly me.
Well further investigation showed me that the memorial in Aurora is not only a Vietnam memorial but one to all from the area over many, many years. Over 6,000 in all.
A different search method uncovered quite a few from Aurora lost in 'Nam, just not those I happened to focus on during my visit.
Today, just a representative few.
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Thomas Barber |
Airman Thomas Barber was a crew member on a plane searching for submarines. The plane lost contact with land and never heard from again. Some wreckage was found but the reason for the loss was never determined. All crew members were lost and presumed dead. He is still listed as MIA.
Sp4 Joseph Cornelison was a chopper mechanic based in Bien Hoa. On April 26, 1969 the chopper he was a crew member to was lost, shot down on a mission in Cambodia.
On April 26, 1969 Sp4 Cornelison died. He was not on the chopper. He was in Bien Hoa. His death was classified as a suicide or self inflicted injury.
This is another of those stories that is even sadder for the fact that it is even more useless than the other tragedies of that war.
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Richard L. Davis |
Sp4 Richard Davis was lost on June 22, 1969 when his mobile antiaircraft weapon (called a "Duster") hit a mine.
I spend a lot of time searching for photos and info about these heroes that I highlight here. It saddens me that so very little information is available and that better photos are not provided. These men and women should be better treated, remembered, honored, in my view.
Next time on the 24th we will return to Connecticut, 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.