Arizona XXI

My visit to Peoria was on March 16th, the day before St. Patrick's Day and with the following in mind, was extremely happy to find that the people running this show had placed a pot of blooming Shamrocks, an American flag, and a POW bracelet along side a prepared list of the names of our Irish friends.

If you follow A Means to Heal with any regularity you may have read about the Irish who served in Vietnam along side us.

Ireland did not participate in the war, but 2500 of her sons and daughters came to America or Australia specifically to join the military and add their support to out efforts in Southeast Asia.

30* of these mostly unknown heroes were lost, but their names are forever inscribed upon The
Wall, our memories, and our hearts.

I have told this story here and elsewhere many times but it is unknown by most.

Never have I had anyone say, "Oh yeah, I know about that." This, sadly and surprisingly, is also true in Ireland. I have traveled there quite a bit and except for one person, I have never met anyone who was aware of this sacrifice by her citizens. Except for one man, who is trying to get a memorial built to the men and women who were lost. The last time I visited, a couple of years ago, the memorial had not been built but I have heard since that it has been completed and is in Ennis. I'll see the next time I visit the land of my ancestors.

*Note: 30 is the number I was told when last in Ireland. While looking on line for more information I come across various numbers ranging from 22 to 31 including some Irish civilians. some of this information had not been updated in years so if I am able to track down an exact number I will update here.

Update: the number is now officially 29.

Next time, one more from Peoria, so, as always, meet me there at 9:00am on the 22nd.

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