South Carolina IV

Not so very far from Columbia is Sumter. Named after the same person as South Carolina's famous Fort Sumter and home to both a beautiful 911 memorial as well as tribute to the 30 from the area who paid the ultimate price in Vietnam.

Located at Civic Plaza, just a brief walk from the firehouse is this memorial.

I find the face of this particular soldier quite interesting. It is,at once, classically Greek and, somehow, young and innocent. In my travels I have found that many of us appear tougher than I, at least, felt in 'Nam.

The names are listed upon this side of the memorial, now 30 years old, and are showing their wear. It was hard to read them and even more difficult to get a photo that does these lost men justice.

At the base, we, as we are so often, bidden to remember.

The memorial may be found in Civic Plaza which is on Magnolia Street, between E. Hampton Ave. and E. Calhoun Street.

Our next visit will be to South Dakota so, join me there on the 7th, as usual at 9:00am.

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

September 11, 2012

Last year it seemed "not quite right" to write about Vietnam memorials on 9/11. I remembered that I had photographed a couple of 9/11 memorials along my journeys and decided  to honor and remember those lost on this fateful day in our history instead. 11 of my neighbors were lost at the Pentagon and in their memory, as well as all the others, I posted a couple of pics of some of  the ones I have seen. Below are the names of those who were lost from my area at the Pentagon;

William Edward Caswell
Dr. Gerald Paul Fisher
Capt. Lawrence D. Getzfred
Michele M. Heidenberger
Angela Marie Houtz
Teddington Hamm Moy
Lt. Darin H. Pontell
Scott A. Powell
Todd Hayes Reuben
Patricia J. Statz
Ernest M. Willcher

You can see last years post by clicking on last September in the list to the right of this page and then scrolling back to the post.

The above memorial is in Rosemead, California. Located near the Vietnam memorial at the city hall it immediately caught my attention. A piece of the World Trade Center is supported by two hands made up of individual birds. There are 2976 doves, exactly the same number of birds as victims on 9/11. The birds were cut from sheets of stainless steel and then hand formed  by the artist so that each one fit perfectly into its place. This part of the project, alone, took nearly 5 months and the artist is quoted as saying "Every time I got tired of bending metal, I remembered that each bird was a human life" and that kept him going. Dedicated on the 10th anniversary of 9/11, this memorial along with the Vietnam memorial and others will soon be relocated to a new plaza that is under construction in the city. The marker for the memorial was in storage, in prep for the move, when I was there. The head of the Parks Dept was kind enough to go get it so I could photograph it, too.  Thanks again!

Back to 'Nam sites on the 14th. Join me at Aberdeen, South Dakota at 9:00am