South Dakota XXV

As I wondered around South Dakota with no particular itinerary, as I have mentioned before, I ran across several memorials in some of the towns.

Howard was one of them and you can see one of the early posts from there, here.

Marlin Joseph Callies

LCPL Marlin Callie was a Rifleman with the Marines in the Quang Tri Province. On July 7, 1968, he died of wounds received from "other explosive device..." in an attack on his defensive position.

Tommy Leon Callies

Capt. Tommy Leon Callies was the pilot of a Phantom jet shot down over the Quang Ngai Province during a bombing run. His body has never been retrieved south of Quang Ngai city..

These two men Captain and Corporal from the same town of Howard were related. Even though their ages were quite close they were 1st cousins once removed. What strikes me is that these two were from a town of around 1,000 residents. I have only found three from Howard that were lost.

Roger W. Kvernes

LTC Roger Kvernes was killed in a helicopter crash at Bac Lieu on February 2, 1970.

Next time on Jun 2nd, we will return to Tennessee, so join me, as always, at 9 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 ( now two) 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.