Vermont XV

Vermont claims to be the first Government sponsored Vietnam memorial in the country. This may be open to some interpretation as we know that others predate it by some time. In many cases years. I guess what "Government sponsored" means could make a difference.

No matter, it honors 100 from the state and, today, we honor three from Johnson. Read more about this remarkable memorial here.

 

Wayne Eugene Byrne

PFC Wayne Byrne was lost on April 16, 1969. He had been in-country for about 6 weeks and was lost to "hostile...small arms fire" three days before his twentieth birthday.

Rollin Chesley Sargent jr.

MSG Rollin Sargent served not only in Vietnam, but, also, in WWII and Korea. He spent fourteen years serving his country. He was an advisor in Vietnam when he suffered a heart attack and was lost. He died at Quang Nam Province on October 22, 1964.

Kenneth G. Weightman jr.

A1C Kenneth Weightman, whose four brothers all served in the military or as First Responders, was killed by lighting from a freak thunderstorm on June 10, 1966. He was lost at Ninh Thuan.

All of these soldiers are from Johnson, Vermont and illustrate differing dangers of serving your country

Next time, on June 22, we will return to Virginia, 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.