New Mexico XIX

It is not too often that I find a memorial dedicated solely to one battle. Most, as you know, are dedicated to the lost and missing from the larger war.

As you drive west on New Mexico 124 (the old Rte 66) towards the Acoma Pueblo you will come to the Khe Sanh Bridge and nearby, just off the highway, near Paraje is this memorial dedicated specifically to the battle of Khe Sanh, one of the worst of the war. I was not able to get a good shot of the bridge on this day, so I will hope to get it on my next trip.

The text here says that over 2,000 Americans died at Khe Sanh

Note the cap someone has attached to the side of the memorial.

  

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The name of those who are local are listed here.

The total numbers are in dispute as is so much of this war and you can read much more about Khe Sanh here:    

https://www.historynet.com/recounting-the-casualties-at-the-deadly-battle-of-khe-sanh.htm

Next time we will take a trip back to New York, so meet me there at 9:00am, on July 1st.

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

New Jersey XVIII

During one of my several jaunts into New Jersey I came across the memorial.

Located at a Municipal Center it is home to several memorials honoring a great number of heroes.

Vietnam and the areas local heroes are prominently remembered and honored here.

As I started to write about it and do some research I kept finding it listed as being in various locations. I was a bit baffled, but plugged on.

It has, obviously, been built up over time as more and more remembrances were added.

Eventually, I found the following explanation.

"Cedarbrook (sic) is a small, unincorporated town within Camden County. So, why is this memorial located here? This confusing but interesting memorial was slowly assembled at this municipal building, on Route 73 South in Winslow Township. Winslow is huge, and eventually sucked up some of the communities which have memorials here like of Sicklerville, Tansboro, Elm, Winslow, and Cedar Brook. Monuments that had been erected in some of the communities were relocated to this spot, and new monuments were also raised."

So, for next time, on the 26th, please join me as we revisit New Mexico. As always we'll be there at 9:00am.

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

New Hampshire XIII

Headed to a family wedding in Vermont I passed by Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. I had heard somewhere that there was a memorial on campus so I thought I would check it out.

I wondered around forever, it seemed, asked numbers of people and came up with zilch, zip, nada. Unwilling to just give up and walk (or drive) away, I continued to seek someone with an answer.

Finally, after quite some time I spoke with someone who thought it might just be out in a particular courtyard.

Following her directions through several buildings, I found myself in the small, nearly completely enclosed courtyard.

Almost as if it had been hidden.

Happy to have finally located it it, I was further surprised to find that part of it was covered up.  I was told that this was to protect it from the harsh New Hampshire winters and it had not yet been uncovered as it was still April.

In 1978, the newly dedicated memorial plaque had not mentioned Vietnam. It was only three years since Saigon had fallen and the war was still quite controversial, but this bothered the President Emeritus, a former Marine, and he and his wife made a gift to have the memorial plaque remade as you see it here.

I found the following on a Dartmouth page about Robert Frost's words on the memorial:

"...while these lines are so familiar that they often seem little more than a cliché, in the context of Dartmouth's Vietnam dead they take on all the power and freshness they must have had at their creation.  Indeed, insofar as the poem's repeated last line is here replaced by ellipses, the way in which the quotation's incompleteness is thereby stressed also serves to emphasize the parallel incompleteness of 21 Dartmouth lives.  Metaphorically, then, in "stopping by woods on a snowy evening," these young men suffer the tragedy of having to leave promises unkept only because of premature deaths that unexpectedly deny the very possibility of miles to go before their sleep.  Seldom has a war memorial offered more solace even as it drives home the tragic waste of war by making it more personal."

The courtyard is called The Zahm Courtyard and is outside the Hopkins Center for the Arts.

I hope to get back on the road in the not too distant future and to get back to to see the memorial uncovered. I promise to update this post when that happens.

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

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

Massachusetts XVIII

After visiting the very beautiful memorial in Northbridge, I decided to try to find another in the town that I head heard about.

After wondering around for a while I finally found this at the the VFW. I am always touched by the smaller, less "corporate" memorials that I find. I certainly don't mean to disparage, in any way, the larger, more elaborate and therefore more expensive memorials to our lost brothers and sisters. It is just that I am moved by those that had no huge backing from any group, except the few who created them. There are probably hundreds if not thousands of these across America that will never be seen except by the few.

This Veterans of Foreign Wars on Church Street (near Legion Way) has created a small memorial ground to several wars.

There are two here to Vietnam.

One is a general remembrance to all who participated.

The other is dedicated to a single individual, probably raised but a few minutes from this site.

Join me next time, on the 14th, to revisit New Hampshire, as always, at 9:00am.

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

Maryland XXVI

Harve De Grace Maryland is about 20 miles or so south of the Mason Dixon Line and George Washington spent the night on his way to New York for his inauguration. The town which lost the vote to become the Capital of the U.S. by a single vote, also, played a role in the War of 1812. Later it was a significant stop on the underground railroad.

Situated where the Susquehanna River meets the Chesapeake Bay, it has always been a draw for seafood, duck hunting and other water interests.

While visiting a few years back I noticed this memorial which I was pleased to find mentioned Vietnam.

The memorials here list no names, but several of our 20th Century wars are remembered.

 Our flag, too, is honored here.

I have read that there are new memorials here and as soon as I can be out and about again I will return to this lovely, historic city to check them out.

Next time, on the 9th we will take a trip back to Massachusetts, so join me there, as always, at 9:00am.

To see additional memorials from Maryland, or any place else, please click on the state name on the left side of this page.