Pennsylvania XXVI

Driving north from Frederick, Maryland into southern Pennsylvania, you can find Mountain Pass where we just happened upon this Monterey Pass Battlefield Park.

On the wall of the small building there, which was closed on this particular day, we found this touching memorial to a lone Vietnam vet.

We could find no additional information, but perhaps, none is needed.

The plaque says it all.

Often, these small, lesser known memorials are greater in impact than the their more famous cousins as they tell these individual stories of bravery, dedication and heroism.

Having visited most of the larger ones now, I am often humbled by these, the individual stories of our brothers and sisters.

Long may they be remembered.

Next time, on the 29th, we will revisit Rhode Island from which I have just returned, so meet me there, as usual, at 9:00am.

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

Maryland XXI

Thurmont lies just a short drive above Frederick, Md. It is well known for its beauty and its apples, among other things. It, also, honors its service men and women with a Memorial Park that honors all that served.

Among the several memorials here is one dedicated to all the residents who served in 'Nam.

Two among these were lost and their names are marked with a + to denote their service and ultimate sacrifice.

As is nearly always the case, names have been added after the dedication. As you know if you follow this page we recently dedicated a memorial in my county. We worked for nine years to get it done and part of that effort was a an ongoing attempt to be accurate, to ensure that every veteran that was lost or remains missing was included. the numbers changed as we found more and more names. we thought we had done a terrific job finding all. On the day of the dedication, a lady approached me and said that one of the names marked as MIA had, in fact, been recovered and interred at Arlington National Cemetery. We didn't make it one day. If we can confirm this,  a correction will be made to be sure. So, as I said, it seems to happen all the time.

Memorial Park is located at 116 Main Street.

Next time, on the 21st, we will travel back to New Jersey, so meet me there, as usual, at 9:00am.

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

Maryland 2

I have found a couple of other sites in Maryland. The first one is in Baker Park in Frederick, MD in a section adjacent to the larger park, called Courts Square. It is located across the street from the National Guard Armory and has memorials to other conflicts, too.

The site consists of a polished black obelisk which has the names and likenesses of those from Frederick that perished. The obelisk is surrounded by panels depicting scenes from the war and one with a poem inscribed. It is an extremely beautiful and moving memorial. This is especially true when one considers that "only" (I use that word very hesitantly and with the utmost of respect and understanding) 22 men were lost.

The last image is in the same location, near the flagpoles, but was placed by AMVETS. You will notice that they define the war era as 1964 to 1975.