New York XXVII

How I just happened into Springville, New York, I don't quite recall. I know that it was chance and a happy one at that.

Located in Shuttleworth Park where we, (Steve and I,) just happened to pull over for a break, I guess, we found this memorial to four from the area who gave up their lives in our efforts in 'Nam.

There were no signs or other indications that tipped us off. We just happened to park where we did and notice this site.

I, later, read that there are several memorials in the park, but this is the only one we saw. Kismet?

Note the dates given for the war

In 1965 the population of Springville was roughly 4,000 and to lose four of your citizens seems significant.

As a note of interest, Glenn "Pop" Warner was from Springville and is credited with helping to make football what it is today.

Springville is about 35 miles south and a little east of Buffalo.

Next time, on the 2nd, we will revisit North Carolina for another traditional memorial, so meet me there at 9:00am.

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

I will ask, as I do at the end of nearly every post now, for anyone who has pictures of Vietnam memorials not seen here to please send them to me. I will give you full photo credit for the pic and any information about it you may know. Check your state, or anywhere you may have visited, from the list at the left, or any place else. Please send them to the email at the left or directly to me at Ldddad@comcast.net. Thanks!

New Mexico XXII

As previously promised here are the Faces from the memorial at Tejeras, New Mexico.

These, unlike many others that I post, are actual photos of the men involved, probably found on The Wall of Faces that I wrote about last time.

Isidro Garcia was awarded The Silver Star for his bravery defending a position until a rescue could be completed. He was killed on March 15, 1970. RIP

Jose Cecilio Garcia was one of 50 Marines lost on Hill 881 South in addition to more than 300 ARVN soldiers. He died on April 30, 1967. RIP

It is interesting that the only two killed from the Tejeras area were both named Garcia. It is a common name in the southwest, to be sure, but it strikes me as odd.

Also, if you should ever find yourself near Tejeras, not far from Albuquerque, be sure to ride along Route 66 to experience the "Musical Highway."

Learn all about it here.

Next time, on the 27th, we will return to New York, so join me there, as always, at 9:00am.

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

I will ask, as I do at the end of nearly every post now, for anyone who has pictures of Vietnam memorials not seen here to please send them to me. I will give you full photo credit for the pic and any information about it you may know. Check your state, or anywhere you may have visited, from the list at the left, or any place else. Please send them to the email at the left or directly to me at Ldddad@comcast.net. Thanks!

In my last post I promised to share some pictures from New Mexico today. As has so often been the case recently I was going to share some faces from a memorial in Tejeras. Check out the full post here.

But, today (8/15/22) I read an article posted from a local radio station (WTOP) about how the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund (VVMF) had announced that the effort to find a photograph of every hero listed on The Wall had finally been completed.

 

 

The effort began in 2001 with one volunteer and after more than two decades is finally complete. 58,281 pictures have finally been compiled. The effort will continue as some of the photos are of poor quality and they would like to find additional information for some. This is still a huge milestone.

As you may know there was an effort to build an Education Center at The Wall which would have featured all the photos, all the mementos left at The Wall  by visitors and much history, but the effort failed and it will not be built.

My efforts as you know have mostly been "portraits" taken from statues and other memorials from around the county, but now you can see every face on The Virtual Wall. https://www.virtualwall.org/faces/iphot174.htm.

So, go and check out the completed Wall of Faces project and if you are not in the DC area watch out for The Wall that Heals, a traveling version of The Wall that wanders the country all year. https://www.vvmf.org/The-Wall-That-Heals/     It is remarkable.

My thanks to Melissa Howell of WTOP radio in Washington DC for permission to use her article as a guide. You can check it out here.

Here is the announcement from Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund released a couple of days ago.

Next time, we will return to New Mexico as previously promised, so join me there on the 22nd at 9:00am.

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

I will ask, as I do at the end of nearly every post now, for anyone who has pictures of Vietnam memorials not seen here to please send them to me. I will give you full photo credit for the pic and any information about it you may know. Check your state, or anywhere you may have visited, from the list at the left, or any place else.

Please send them to Ldddad@comcast.net or the email listed on the left.

New Jersey XXXII

This is my 32nd post from New Jersey and like so many recently it will feature faces from the memorial at Elizabeth.

According to the "Wall of Faces" Elizabeth lost 28 of her citizens but the memorial which you can see here, lists 30: they are all represented by these two faces.

I've been writing these posts for 13 years now and it seems that getting the numbers right on any particular site is a never ending task. I've written a couple of times about the exact numbers being in question and that the DoD and VVMF joined for a four year audit of records verses names on The Wall in an effort to get it correct. As of the last time I checked the current number is 58,281. This number is updated as needed. I often wonder if we have added the last name.

Next time, on the 17th, we will revisit New Mexico, so join me 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.

I will ask, as I do at the end of nearly every post now, for anyone who has pictures of Vietnam memorials not seen here to please send them to me. I will give you full photo credit for the pic and any information about it you may know. Check your state, or anywhere you may have visited, from the list at the left, or any place else.

Send them to Ldddad@comcast.net or to the email on the left of this page.

Thank you

Nebraska XVII

So, I seem to have messed up on my post timing, not sure what went wrong. but now we are back on track. 

Again I find myself searching for anything to write about here and, once again, find myself looking at faces.

Today, I return to Nebraska to find a few and I admit that they may not be the best pictures you will find on this site. They were all taken before the idea for the Faces of Remembrance series ever occurred to me. So, they are taken from larger pics and sites and in some cases I cannot swear that they are actually faces of our fellow soldiers from 'Nam, but perhaps more generalized representatives of all those who who stood up and made the sacrifices and "wrote the check" asked for by our country.

I was on the road this week and found a couple of sites in West Virginia and one in Maryland, so more traditional memorials are coming in the not too distant future.

For now, these.

 

These pics, such as they are, come from Omaha, North Bend, and Auburn, Nebraska, respectively.

So, next time, on the 12th, we will take another look at New Jersey, so meet me there, as always, at 9:00am.

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

I will ask, as I do at the end of nearly every post now, for anyone who has pictures of Vietnam memorials not seen here to please send them to me. I will give you full photo credit for the pic and any information about it you may know. Check your state, or anywhere you may have visited, from the list at the left, or any place else.