Arkansas X

The Arkansas Vietnam Memorial is quite beautiful. You should visit if you can, In the meantime, read a little more about it here.

Arkansas Vietnam memorial, Little Rock

You may have noticed that as I write about these lost heroes, lately, that I usually choose some small place most of us have never heard of. this is intentional on my part as I feel small towns and less magnificent memorials often get overlooked in our memories. While this is but a small thing, it is something I can do.

Today, Alma, Arkansas:

Roger Dale Cecil

LCPL Roger Cecil was lost in the Quang Tri Province to "multiple fragmentation wounds..." He was injured on July 6th and passed on July14, 1967, He was among 22 others lost in that action. He told a friend the last time he saw him that he "would not be returning from the war." He is buried at Ft. Smith Cemetery.

Billy Dale Livingston

LCPL Billy Livingston was killed by "misadventure or friendly fire..." during an attach during Tet, 1968. An American jet flying in support of the Marines at Khe Sanh released a bomb early. It hit the front line of Marines in defense of the village. He was lost on February 26, 1968. He, too, is buried at Ft. Smith.

William Robert Wilson

1LT William Wilson was lost to "other explosive device" on March 25, 1969. He was lost in Quang Ngi Province. He is buried at Ft. Smith.

Next time, on August 6th, we will return to California, so join me, as always, at 9 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 (now three) 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 ed in Neillsville. The site was chosen because the and I will gladly share them here. 

I hope all those listed here will encourage you to send along photos and join the group.

Arkansas VIII

Nick Bacon was the son of share croppers in Arkansas and determined to rise above this life. He lived in several places over the course of his life and served his community and country in every one of them. He is noted as saying that his time in uniform was the proudest in his life.

Perhaps his proudest moment in uniform was when being awarded the Medal of Honor by President Nixon for his service in Vietnam. 

His likeness is preserved at a MoH memorial in Little Rock, across the green from the Vietnam memorial featured here. 

"The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed forces' highest Military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians, and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor. The medal is normally awarded by the president of the United States, but as it is presented "in the name of the United States Congress" it is sometimes referred to as the "Congressional Medal of Honor". The Secretary of the Army, on behalf of DoD, has testified to Congress that the term "Congressional Medal of Honor" is "incorrect", and that "it seems inappropriate to modify the name of the medal with the word 'Congressional' as each award is made in the name of the Congress."

The above is taken directly from Wikipedia, read the whole article here: 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medal_of_Honor

Next time, on the 3rd, we will return to California, meet me there, as always, at 9:00am.

To see additional memorials from Arkansas,  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.

 

Arkansas VII

Just a quick one today. In searching through files (again) to find something new and hopefully of interest, I found these two shots to add to the Faces of Remembrance series.

The Arkansas Vietnam memorial is located on the grounds of the State capitol building in Little Rock and lists the over 600 names from the state that made the ultimate sacrifice.

They are represented by a statue of an infantry soldier watching over the site.

 As is so often the case, his eyes say it all.

Maybe I have just seen too many of these remarkable statues while pursuing this project (it has been more than 12 years now) but, I see not only the 1000 yard stare, but a bewilderment; too be sure from seeing too much himself.

Next time, on the 24th, we will revisit California. Join me there, as always, at 9:00am.to see additional memorials from Arkansas, or any other state, please click the state name on the left side of this page.

Arkansas VI

Southwest of Clinton (Northwest of Little Rock) lies Morrilton and on their Court House lawn is this memorial to two from Conway County who paid the ultimate price of war. Located on the corner of Moose and Church Streets, it sits among a few other memorial to others lost in other wars.

The inscription reads as follows;

VIETNAM ERA
AUGUST 5, 1964 - MAY 7, 1975

THIS PLAQUE IS IN REMEMBRANCE AND HONOR OF THE
VIETNAM WAR VETERANS OF CONWAY COUNTY, ARKANSAS
AND COMMEMORATES THE COURAGEOUS SERVICE AND
DEDICATION THESE VETERANS GAVE FOR THEIR COUNTRY.
SPECIAL RECOGNITION IS GIVEN TO THE FOLLOWING WHO
WERE KILLED IN ACTION:

SP/4 DONALD NISLER WHITE
COMPANY A, 1ST BATTALION, 20TH INFANTRY,
11TH BRIGADE, AMERICAL DIVISION

E-7 PLATOON SGT WILLIAM ROGER BROOKS,
COMPANY C, 3RD BATTALION, 21ST INFANTRY,
196 BRIGADE, AMERICAL DIVISION.

THIS EXPRESSION IS TO SHOW SINCERE APPRECIATION AND
GRATITUDE TO VIETNAM VETERANS SO THAT THEY AND THEIR
TRUE COURAGE AND PATRIOTISM WILL BE REMEMBERED.

Arkansas III

Located just a short walk from the Vietnam memorial there is a small copse of trees. These trees give shade and protection to a memorial to the several Medal Of Honor awardees from Arkansas. One of these is from the Vietnam war.

Nick D. Bacon was born in Arkansas but was moved with his family to Arizona. After his distinguished military  career, he returned to Arkansas where, as in Arizona, he served in many admirable positions. He served his country in ways too numerous to mention here. When he passed in 2008 he was the last living Medal Of Honor awardee in Arkansas.

You should take a moment to visit the URL below where you may read about all the contributions Mr. Bacon made to his country. A true hero deserving of a moment of your time.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Bacon

Interestingly, I wrote my first post 3 years ago today. At the time, I had not a notion about where this journey would take me or if I would ever complete it. In fact, I remember thinking that this might be too big a project and that I might never get it done. And here we are; I have written a couple of hundred posts, visited all 50 states, many more than once and continue to seek out new sites to visit, honor, and photograph. I have met countless great people, heard many many stories and had numerous adventures along the way. If you know of any Vietnam memorial sites, large or small, I would love to hear from you. You can leave a comment or there is an email listed on the side of the site that is private.

Arkansas II

"Inside" the memorial are some interesting views. Here is another of the soldier and a couple of The Wall itself. I have written before about how so many of these sites are designed to help us reflect on the magnitude of the war, the sacrifice and the loss of those involved. This one is no different, the names here, seen in two different views are, as always, compelling and heartbreaking and the reflection often includes oneself and forces one to contemplate. In my case, like so many other vets, I wonder, "Why is it that I was spared and these were not?"

You can, also, see why the numbers in the previous post differ. It is not at all unusual for names to be discovered after the sites are complete and you can see how they dealt with that issue here. The seven who have been added over the years are of those whose families showed that they were from Arkansas but may have moved elsewhere. These, then may well be listed on other memorials in other places, too. This speaks, I think, to a phenomenon that I have referenced before; we have gone, over the years, from being ignored to being honored in many ways and it seems places!

I wrote a couple of months back that 10 additional names were added to the Wall in D.C. this past May. It seems that no matter how hard the planners try, some are always added later. Some of you may know that I am involved with trying to build a memorial in my town; I hope that we are able to include all that were lost the first time around.

I mentioned in the last post that I had talked with the Historian for Arkansas. One of the things he told me was that a name had been added, this year, to the War of 1812 memorial on the grounds! So, for those of us who care and believe that remembrance of the sacrifice of others in important, the work goes on.

Next time, on the 14th, we will visit a Medal of Honor memorial on the same grounds as the Vietnam Memorial. Nick Bacon, the last living MOH awardee (from Arkansas) died in 2008, but his story should be told forever. Check it out at 9:00am on the 14th.

Arkansas

The Arkansas Vietnam Memorial is located on the Capitol grounds in Little Rock. It sits and dominates a corner at an intersection and is quite beautiful and imposing at the same time.

Entering from the front, you are guided by walls that envelope the inner memorial. Once inside you are greeted by "The Grunt" and the reflective panels honoring the 662 lost and missing.

Approved and built (1983) while Bill Clinton was governor, it seems especially poignant, to me, because of all the heat he took for not serving and protesting the war. I know this is a sore spot for some, but I hold no grudges for those who were in school, the National Guard or were otherwise not involved. It is what it is. In all, very few actually served. The numbers are something like; 30 million in the services during the "Vietnam Era", 3 million served in 'Nam (roughly 1 and 1/2 percent of the total population at the time) and about 10% of those were the actual guys fighting. At the time, 8 or 9 out of every 10 guys in country were in some kind of support role. These numbers are not exact, but they are pretty close. So, one and 1/2 percent of Americans went to 'Nam in some capacity. Most (98 and 1/2%) found a way out, he just took a lot of heat.

Having said all that, the memorial is quite stirring. The Grunt has that 10,000 mile stare in his eyes. Like so many of us he has seen more than he expected. He has seen too much.

The Memorial is easily found by taking the 6th Street exit from I-30 and driving west approximately 20 blocks to the State capitol grounds. Free, curbside parking is normally available near the Memorial on Woodlane Street.
 

Next time, I will take you further inside the memorial to check out some of the details and then over the next few weeks to other sites in Arkansas. As always, new posts "appear" every 5th day at 9:00am. so, I will see you the 9th at 9.

Update: I have just heard from the State Historian from Arkansas. He and his assistant just went out today to get a correct accounting of the number of names on the memorial. There are now 669. He says that there are no current plans to add any more but that there is space to do so if and when the need arises. He, also, told me he had just returned from a 150 mile trip to retrieve a box of documents that had been hurried away from the Capitol during the Civil War! These were hidden away for safe keeping and are just now being returned! It boggles the mind to imagine what might be found in this treasure trove of history.