Montana VII

In 2013 I featured a memorial I ran across in Dillon, Montana, telling the story of a young man's journey to honor his uncle. You can see that post here. In looking over some of the pics I took at that site, I decided to post a couple more in honor of the uncle, the young man's efforts and all those remembered here. 

Dillon is about an hour or so south, more or less, from Butte.

Hundreds of names of those who served or were lost are honored on the individual bricks that make up the wall.

As mentioned in the earlier post, the man who did this memorial was a stone mason, so it was interesting to note this particular feature.

Memorials like this one, built by just regular people give me a sense of peace and pride. It is good to know that people care, and will go to great lengths to remember those who served.

Next time, on the 4th of May, we will return to Nebraska, so meet me there, as always, at 9:00am.

To see additional memorials from Montana, 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. Please send them to the email at the left or directly to me at Ldddad@comcast.net. Thanks

Michigan XI

Michigan turned out to be a real roller coaster, at least with regards to the weather. We saw it all. In toughly twenty four hours the temp was 83°, it rained, it snowed, albeit briefly, it hailed, high winds and then our flight home was delayed because they needed to de-ice the plane. Whew!

All that aside, even though we were there for a family affair, I was able to visit two memorial sites.

Today, I will share the one in Royal Oaks, a suburb of Detroit.

This memorial was originally in a different spot that ended up a parking lot for City Hall. Moved to its current location in a newly formed, quite lovely, park, it now sits across the street from and facing the City hall building.

You can see the back of the memorial in this shot from within the new park. It has grown from a WWI memorial to encompass all wars up to Vietnam. the obelisk at the right is the Vietnam portion of the site.

There are a couple of markers, like this one, spread over the site.

I was really disappointed to find the memorial surrounded by construction tape and other barriers, (it was not obvious what exactly was going on) so I had to photograph from some odd angles, even after trying to move some of the stuff out of the way ( I put it all back when I was finished)

Interestingly, the blue tape on the face of the memorial is where they have gone out of their way to correct a mistake in a name. I looked under it and a letter has been removed, filled in, and is awaiting a correction.

 

These are the 39 names of those from the area lost. I will, at a future date, post a few more pics from this site.

Next time, on the 29th, I we will revisit Montana, so meet me there asd usual, at 9:00am.

To see additional memorials from Michigan, 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. Please send them to the email at the left or directly to me at Ldddad@comcast.net. Thanks

Maryland XXXVII

Funkstown, Maryland was originally called Jerusalem and it lies near Hagerstown. It officially became Funkstown  (after its founder) in 1840. Once a thriving mill town, it is now a quiet residential area.

On the town square a memorial was created to honor those who served in WWI. It has been updated over the years and now includes our comrades from 'nam.

Wars from WWI to Vietnam are remembered here.

As far as I can tell, none were lost in 'nam and all listed are being honored as having served.

This additional stone has been added to the right side of the original memorial. there is no additional information provided, but it is not at all uncommon for more names to show up after memorials have been planned, produced and placed. I worked on a memorial in my area and the efforts are strenuous and on going. We worked diligently for years to ensure that all eligible vets were included. It didn't last one day! On the day of the dedication a family member informed us that we had an error. We assured her that we would correct the error upon verification. the verification was never made, so, who knows.

The memorial is located on the corner of  Frederick Road and Baltimore Street.

I am headed for Michigan on the 14th so I hope when I return I will have new sites to share, so join me there, on the 24th, as usual, at 9:00am.

To see additional memorials from Maryland, 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

 

1,000th Post

Today marks the 1,000th post on this site.

This was never intended. The original goal was to post a photo of each of the 50 state memorials throughout the country. As previously stated in posts over the years, it did not take long to discover that not every state has an "Official" state memorial. The example I always site for this is Pennsylvania: It has no "Official" state memorial, but it has a beautiful one in Philadelphia and another in Pittsburgh and dozens of others throughout the state. In fact, I believe that Pennsylvania is the second most represented state on this site, behind only Colorado. The two main reasons for this are its proximity to where I live and the shear numbers of tributes across the state: I have posted 39 as of this writing and there are many more that I have not yet visited.

So, this realization has led to visiting sites I never dreamed existed. I have visited every state at least once and many states many time. It is interesting that some places are still building memorials to the men and women who fought and died in what was probably America's most unpopular war. Nebraska comes to mind as they are currently constructing a beautiful new site, West Virginia dedicated a new memorial not long ago, and Rome, New York has recently added a Chopper to an existing tribute. There are undoubtedly legions of others that I may never see or even know about.

Thinking about this unexpected journey brings to mind some the remarkable people I've met and things I have been fortunate to see.

One of the most memorable interactions I have had was when I heard from a guy who just happened to be a seatmate when flying home from somewhere. Of course we talked about this project among other things. Some time later, he wrote to say, "I've been in therapy twice a week for PTSD for longer than I care to remember and after seeing your site, I know I'm going to get well."

What greater tribute could their possibly be?

I am often asked, "which is your favorite memorial?" I usually say, "the one I am in front of at the moment."  That being so, however, does not mean there are not some that truly stand out. It would be nearly impossible, I guess, to name them all, but, 

 California:

Sacramento

Colorado:

Colorado wilderness

Hawai'i':

Honolulu

Kentucky:

Frankfort

and Maryland to name but a few.

Baltimore

Don't think that just the "big" ones are my favorites. Many times the lesser known, hometown sites are magnificent in their own way.

Wyoming:

Cody

 Florida:

 

Ormond Beach

Hawai'i':

Hale'iwa

Louisiana:

Iberville

I could go on and on here but I hope if you are new to this site, or have not spent time browsing, I promise there are many, many more to be seen.

In addition to the above I have had the honor of being involved in a number events and projects over the years, now 14 of them, that I never would have dreamed even existed.

I have spoken to schools in my area, a group of English students in their final year of what we call high school, and been featured in several documentaries and presentations and eventsy. Things that I never imagined, not even in  my wildest dreams.

 

This one was honored with two Emmys, two Edward R. Murrow Awards, and Top Prize from the Associated Press:

 

https://wjla.com/features/7news-stories/a-means-to-heal-vietnam-vet-takes-thousands-of-photos-at-war-memorials-in-all-50-states# 

Check it out, if you like.

In the future, I hope to continue finding, honoring, and photographing memorials to those who served and those who were lost in Vietnam.

I will ask here, as I do after every regular post, that if you have photos of memorials that you have not seen here, please send them to me and I will share them with everyone.

To those who have followed for these many years, thank you, and I will repeat how much I love hearing from you when you comment. Many of you have corrected my errors and presented me with new information and ideas. I am always grateful.

To any who may not know, there is a print version of this site featuring some of my favorite sites. You can now get it at Amazon. It, too, is called A Means to Heal and sometimes my editor, John Curry's name pops up as an author.  Regardless, it is out there if you are interested.

So, thanks for following along for this longer than usual post, but, to me at least, this is kind of a big deal.

I'll hope to see you next time for number 1001, on the 19th, when we return to Maryland, as always, at 9:00am.

Delaware XXIII

I found a town in Delaware that has not one but two memorials to Vietnam. 

This might make perfect sense as the town actually lies within two states: Delaware and Maryland.

Both memorials seem to lie, however, in Delaware.

This one is just outside a small American Legion building on the corner of 2nd and Grove Streets.

While it may have seen better days, it is the one, of the two, that actually lists the name of one of our lost brothers.

The place calls itself "The little town too big for one state." The Delaware half of the town has a population of about 2100, (the Maryland half another 2500 or so.)

At a future date, I will share the other memorial literally a short walk away.

Next time, on the 14th, I will post my 1,000th post on this site and I hope to have something a little special, so join me then, as usual, at 9:00am.

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

Colorado XXXVI

 

Last fall I was, once again, in Colorado and as seems to happen most times I am there, I found myself at the Colorado Springs Memorial.

I am not sure why, but it seems to happen that each time I visit I find something I have not seen before.

This time it was a memorial to War Dogs.

If you have spent any time on this site, you know how big a soft spot I have for dogs. I've told the story of my dog in 'Nam. Not a military dog, just a dog who adopted me the day I arrived. She rarely left my side and only through the most difficult of circumstances was I forced to leave her behind when I came home.

Maybe that is why I always like to feature our friends, comrades and protectors when I have the chance.

So, as I walked around the site I came across these guys. Maybe they were always there, but this time we met.

The memorial, of course, honors dogs from many wars and those lost at the World Trade Center.

For some reason, I really like the idea of the two dogs gazing at the tower. 

There are a number of these pavers here honoring dogs from many wars and 9/11.

Next time, on the 9th, we will revisit Delaware, so join me there at 9:00am.

To see additional memorials from Colorado, 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!