Illinois XIX

I have spent some time over the years telling you about Havana, Illinois. It is unique as it is the only place I've been that has a store front with framed pictures of so many of the lost from the area. The last time I checked, the store was out of business and no one could tell me what happened to the guy who created the display or what had happened to the many photos.

You can see some of those pictures here.

Today, a few of the lost actually from the town of Havana.

James Azbell

Sp4 Azbell was lost on  February 23, 1969 at Dau Tieng. Below his his Silver Star Citation:

"The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918 (amended by an act of July 25, 1963), takes pride in presenting the Silver Star (Posthumously) to Specialist Fourth Class James Allen Azbell (ASN: US-56591925), United States Army, for gallantry in action. Specialist Fourth Class Azbell distinguished himself by heroic actions on 23 February 1969, while serving as a radio-telephone operator with Company D, 65th Engineer Battalion, 25th Infantry Division, in the Republic of Vietnam. While Company D was established in the Dau Tieng Base Camp, the installation came under an intense attack from a numerically superior hostile force. During the initial contact, Company D sustained several casualties. Specialist Azbell immediately administered life saving first aid to several wounded men and evacuated them to a relatively secure position. When the insurgents overran and occupied one of the bunkers on the perimeter, Specialist Azbell, with complete disregard for his own safety, exposed himself to the holocaust of exploding projectiles as he assaulted the enemy held fortification. As Specialist Azbell placed devastating fire on the hostile forces, he was fatally wounded. His valorous actions were responsible for saving several lives and the eventual defeat of the hostile force. Specialist Azbell's personal bravery, aggressiveness, and devotion to duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, the 25th Infantry Division, and the United States Army. General Orders: Headquarters, 25th Infantry Division, General Orders No. 2999 (March 10, 1969)"

CWO John Frederick

John Frederick was interned as a Prisoner of War in North Vietnam after he was captured on December 7, 1965, and until he died in captivity on or about July 19, 1972. In his personnel file at NPRC, his Navy Cross citation is actually written as a Medal of Honor citation, indicating that he was originally submitted and considered for our Nation's highest award. His is one of the Marine Corps' most highly decorated Warrant Officers in history. His remains were recovered and returned on March 13, 1974.

Larry Ladd

Sp4 Larry Ladd was lost on June 19, 1970. He was lost in Cambodia setting up explosive defensive devices when attack by hostiles.

You may note that this is the second hero lost in that place we "never were..." that I have mentioned in the last couple of posts.

Next time, on December 7th. we will return to Indiana and additional faces to honor, so join me there, as usual  at 9:00 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 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. 

Illinois XVIII

It is with a somewhat heavy heart that I return to Havana, Illinois today.

I had hoped to identify each of these vets and perhaps share a bit about them.

As you can see in the second picture, his name is impossible to read and after quite a bit of searching, I was able to track down the actual window and the name of the store featuring him and so many others.

I called only to discover that the business no longer exists.

As always, I will ask if any of you readers can positively identify him, I would love to honor his memory here. Please let me know at the email on the left side of this page 

This window is unique in my travels and experience. You can read more about it in a previous post that you can see here.

I am posting this picture again because I found out that he is actually the only hero from Havana lost in Nam. Killed, as you will note, in Cambodia: a place where we denied we were for many years.

Next time, on the 16th of April, we will venture, once again to Kentucky so, join me, as always, at 9:00 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 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.

Illinois XVII

So, as you can see if you follow along on this journey, I am still searching through files trying to find something to share with you. As I do this, I am reinforced in the thought that I really must find a means to get past my concern about airports. I have no real issues anymore about hotels and I am convinced that the airlines are doing a good job of keeping the planes safe, but I've found no way to determine what the actual airports are doing. I remain concerned. 

All of this is by way of explaining why so many of my recent posts have been in the Faces of Remembrance series. I am running out of posts about memorials. I have a few left from a few states but overall my cache is running low.

Today's faces come from Havana, Illinois. They are etchings on the memorial there which you can take a look at here. It is interesting to me that they are directly across the street from the shop window display of so many faces in actual photographs from Mason County, You can see some of them here.

Even in these caricatures one can see the resignation, fatigue, and sadness of these, who represent us all.

Next time we will revisit Louisiana to see additional Faces from a couple of different memorials. So, join me, at 9:00am on the 8th, to honor our valiant comrades.

Tomorrow is Independence Day, so along with cook-outs, parades, and fireworks, take just a moment to remember those who have fought and died to retain our independence.

To see additional memorials from Illinois, 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.

Illinois XVI

So, even a different view of faces. In this Faces of Remembrance series I have tried to show the different looks I have seen given to the statues I've found as I travel. Last time I showed some faces of vets and others seen at the dedication of the memorial in Honolulu. 

Then while once again searching my photos I came across these faces. These are unusual as they are faces of lost vets, but from a happier time. I guess they might be from their Basic training graduations.

I found them when I visited Havana, Illinois to photograph the memorial there. Across the street from the park where the memorial is, there was a storefront. the guy that owned it filled the display window with patriotic stuff and the pictures of many of the soldiers whose names were engraved upon the stone across the street.

 

 

These photos were taken through the glass of the display window, so, perhaps not the very best. However, any effort to recognize and honor our brothers and sisters, I applaud.

I have asked the site for additional information about these guys and will update if I hear back from them.

I will ask, at the end of 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 from the lost at the left.

Next time, on March 5th, we will make a return trip to Iowa, so join me there, as usual, at 9:00am.

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

Illinois V

VFW dedication plaque

Directly across the street from the Havana Vietnam Tribute is the Mason County Courthouse. On the grounds there are several war memorials that honor all who have served and the five dead from the area are honored on one of them.

The entrance honoring all

The whole memorial

VIETNAM
1959 - 1975

In Remembrance and Honor to those
From Mason County who made the
Ultimate Sacrifice for their country
in Vietnam

Killed 58,151
Wounded 153,303
POW/MIA 2,398

Mason County's Sacrifice

James A. Azbell
John W. Frederick
Larry R. Ladd
Don H. Lascelles
Edward W. Stone

Illinois IV

Another really interesting and, so far, unique memorial is located in Havana, Ill. Havana has a memorial on the Courthouse lawn dedicated to the 5 lost from the area. I will get to that one in my next post. However, this one is something I have never seen anywhere.

Michael "Harry" Tarvin is a Vietnam vet who after his service wanted to make a memorial to all from Mason County who had served. He understood that those not commemorated on memorials, those who had survived, needed acknowledgement and recognition, too. He understood, also, that these who had suffered so much in the war and then again upon return "to the world" had paved the way for today's soldiers being greeted by applause and cheering in airports! I have often said that the "silver lining" to Vietnam is that we will never treat a vet like that again! This, as you probably know, is the founding principal of Vietnam Veterans of America; that one generation of veterans will never again abandon another.

So, he set to work. He started gathering photos of anyone who had served and who had lived in Mason County, where Havana is located, for 30 days or more. He put out the word and distributed flyers in the Havana area and there was a story in the newspaper that helped him collect the photos and stories of his comrades.

Harry owns an appliance store in Havana (H&H Appliances)and he displays the photos in one of the store fronts facing the street. The store is directly across the street from the Courthouse where the memorial to the five men lost is located. The address in 114 Plum Street.

The last photo on the right on the bottom pic is of a local Havana man who was killed in Cambodia, that place we never were!

Next time, we will visit the memorial at the Mason County Courthouse. Join me on the 27th at 9:00am.