Nevada VIII

I have written before about Henderson. It lies south of as Vegas and you can check out that post here.

Today, a tribute to the heroes listed as KIAs from Henderson.

this day has unfolded in a much different manner than I anticipated.

Originally, I had pulled some names from what was identified as the KIA memorial section of the Henderson memorial.

I had five names that I wanted to honor. I started looking at the Wall of Faces from VVMF and was surprised to not find the name I was looking for.

Odd, I thought, but VVMF admits that it is still missing a few names, so I didn't give it too much thought.

But, I couldn't locate a face for the second name either. Or the third or fourth. I called City Hall in Henderson and they tried to be helpful, but could not actually help. They did direct me to the specific information they did have, but I couldn't find what I needed.

I started checking other sites that have this type of info and soon learned that none of the names from the Henderson Memorial KIA panel were lost in 'Nam. 

But, I, also, learned the names of a number of men from Henderson who were lost in 'Nam, so today, as planned, I will honor a few of them today.

 

Jack Edward Cossins

 

Wallace Hopkins

Lowell Lunzman

 

I do not know why these heroes are not mentioned on the Henderson Wall. Perhaps I will contact them again to find out. It is completely possible that they have been added since my visit which was actually some years ago.

For now, however, I will simply ask you to join me on the 11th of June when we will return to New Hampshire, 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.

Nevada III

Henderson, Nevada is a town that sprang up during WWII to help with the war effort. Twenty five percent of all the Magnesium used by the War Department during WWII came from Henderson. Located some 15 miles south of Las Vegas It was a quick trip down to see The Wall that I had read about. Or, so it seemed.

My buddy Steve and I drove down and searched for quite some time, only to find road construction, dead ends and no memorial. I was pretty disappointed, but was finally forced to admit I was not going to find it. I figured that maybe all the construction in the area had displaced it, it has happened before.

While returning from other trips around the state, I decided to give it one more try, I really did not want to miss a memorial, if it was actually available. I called the City Hall and was told that the memorial was right on the grounds and that the first directions I had been using were wrong. So, we made it over and I am very glad we did. As you can see it is quite a memorial, a little off the beaten path, somewhat hidden by the building and some trees, but well worth the effort.

The memorial itself is made up of several walls, each honoring different groups of people. There are currently more than 1500 names of those who have served and/or were lost. there is a central fountain and several flags throughout the site.

There is a specific wall for KIAs, now numbering four, with way too much space, one hopes, for future additions.

I have mentioned on other posts that I am always pleased to see War Dogs remembered, as they are here.

As mentioned earlier the memorial is located at the Henderson City Hall, but is hard to see from the street. You can wander around the building and find it, but we walked in and were directed through the building, perhaps a little easier.

Next time, we will wander back across the country to New Jersey. So, please  join me there on the 7th, as always, at 9:00am.

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