Pennsylvania XXV

Returning from a trip to the Shanksville 911 memorial site, I stopped in Bedford, Pa to grab a bite. While sitting in the restaurant I notices a sign on the wall that seemed to be about a Vietnam memorial. It was announcing the dedication of an addition of a statue to the existing memorial later in the year.

Intrigued, I looked up where the existing memorial was located and found that it was only a couple of blocks away.

It sits in Veterans Grove on the grounds of the Bedford County Court House among a number of other memorials.

Located on the corner of Juliana and  Penn Streets it is easy to find.

From the street side the view is this statement of honor and support for all who served.

The reverse lists the 21 from Bedford County lost to our efforts in 'Nam.

 The brick field behind is nearly full of dedication bricks to various individuals who served.

The circle at the base of the "V" at the end of the brick field will eventually be the resting place of a statue of the Robert Hartsock, the only military dog handler to ever be a recipient of the Medal of Honor.

The statue will debut on March 28th, 6 to 9pm at the Bedford Elks and will be placed at a later date.

If you are interested call Dennis Tice at 814-623-1771 for more details.

Next time, on the 25th, we will return to Virginia, so, as always meet me there at 9:00am.

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

South Dakota IV

East of Aberdeen is Milbank. Here they have cluster of memorials to several wars. The one from 'Nam is particularly moving because it is dedicated to one man. Each is inscribed with pictures representing some aspect of the particular war. Actual artifacts owned by local veterans were used as models for these engravings.

I don't usually mention names here, but I figure if Milbank will build a memorial to one man, the least I can do is honor him, also.

Ronald Clifford Dexter

Private First Class
D CO, 1ST BN, 26TH MARINES, 3RD MARDIV, III MAF
United States Marine Corps
Milbank, South Dakota
May 21, 1947 to September 19, 1966
RONALD C DEXTER is on the Wall at Panel 10E, Line 117

To read more about this young man who was only in-country about a month, go here;

 http://www.sdvietnamwarmemorial.com/ronalddexter.htm

Notice the engraving on this one, it is called a Field Cross and has been used since the Civil War as a means to call for help or mark where a solder has died. The WWII stele at this site has a similar engraving on its face, also. Only the helmets are different, depicting the individual wars. I have noticed on my travels more and more of these are marked with the more current helmet style. So, after a while you can tell what war is being noted from quite a distance.

The stone is red granite from South Dakota and the whole memorial sits in front of the Grant County Court House at the end of Main street.

The city of Milbank has a population of 3,353 and all of Grant County has 7,356. Incredible what people can and will do when determined. Thank you to all.

The next stop, on the 24th is McLaughlin, as usual at 9.00am, join me there!

South Dakota III

Aberdeen lies in nearly the north east corner of the state. The memorial here is dedicated to the 14 who gave their lives in Vietnam. The four triangular steles, backed by flag poles and surrounded by benches, list their names, rank and where they were lost, and depict a number of scenes as well as quotations from JFK and others. It was an interesting day as it was so humid that keeping my lens clear proved to be nearly impossible. As mentioned elsewhere on this site, the local rivers were flooding and the resulting humidity affected what I was trying to accomplish.

This memorial is in Anderson Park located at 6th Ave. and Boyd St.


From Aberdeen, I drove even further east, almost to the state line where I found a memorial to one solder. In some ways even more moving. Simple, respectful and standing with similar monuments to other wars, this one, once again, says much about small towns. Join me in Milbank at 9:00am on the19th.