Colorado XXXV

 I had seen some reporting on a Vietnam memorial in Colorado that consisted of the words "In God We Trust" covered in thousands and thousands of pennies. Recently on a trip to the area for personal reasons I decided to see if I could track it down.

Turns out that it was less than an hour from where I was staying, so I headed out. It was not until I actually arrived that I discovered that I had actually visited the site more than ten years ago.

The Leo S. Boston memorial site, when I visited, consisted of a wall dedicated to many who gave their lives for our country and a single jet airplane.You can see that post, from 11 years ago here.

It has expanded with the years.

Today, there are an additional two helicopters and some armored vehicles in addition to the aforementioned "In God We Trust."

The letters were created by Canon City High School students and the pennies were collected and cleaned before being glued in place. All of the pennies are dated from 1965 to 1971, all 58,272 of them.

The copper in the pennies is said to give a different view at different times of the day.

At first, I thought that the darker spots on the letters were missing pennies, but closer inspection showed that they were just darker.

I've, also, read that there is a statue coming. One soldier carrying another to one of the choppers for a "Dust off", no date was given for when it might be placed.

The memorial is in the Col. Leo S. Boston Park, 7.5 miles east of Canon City on US 50, on the left hand side of the road.

Next time, on the 26th, we will return to 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!

Colorado IX

Driving through the beautiful Colorado mountains, we came to a place called Florence. Near the junction of Route 67 and Highway 50 is this great memorial.

Col. Boston was lost over North Vietnam, near Hanoi in April of 1966. This memorial was built to him and many others who answered when their country called and ultimately made the supreme sacrifice.

All American involvements are commemorated and honored here. 1316 heroes are honored here on the 2299 bricks that make up the wall. One expects that the remaining bricks will someday honor those now, or in the future, who serve the country.

The memorial is interesting because my first research said it was in Florence, the plaque on the site itself, says Canon City, but the address I found on line says 60298 Highway 50, Pemrose, Colorado. It is located on Highway 50 not far from the intersection with Route 67, near the Fremont County Airport.

To complete this story, today, I found a story telling of the recovery, identification and internment of Col. Boston. The joint POW/MIA Command with the aid of local Vietnamese citizens uncovered the remains of Col. Boston in 2000. but the technology to identify them did not exist at the time. Last April (2011), his remains were positively identified and he was buried with full military honors this past July (2011). He and his family can now rest in peace! It seems fitting somehow that I visited this spot in June and am writing these words in August (they will not post until September 2nd, however) Even though it took almost exactly 45 years to identify Col Boston, it gives hope that all of our brothers will eventually be returned to us and to their families.

You can read more about Col. Boston here;

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/gazette/obituary.aspx?n=leo-s-boston&pid=152436899