Rhode Island XIII

North Smithfield has a somewhat different memorial as seen in the picture below. I featured this site a while back ( you can see that post here ) and today, I want to feature a few of the several listed upon it.

The following are among the heroes commemorated here.

Leo J. Atteridge jr

Pfc Atteridge was killed by small arms fire at Thua Thien on March 13, 1968.

Rene A. Bois

Sp4 Bois was lost while working at an ammo dump at Binh Long which exploded on December16, 1968. Tragic.  

Fred T. Carter

Pfc Frederick T. Carter was a victim of hostile ground fire while missing. He was lost at Long Khanh on December 16, 1967.

These men along with many others to follow will always be remembered as long as we say their names. 

My hope is that posting them here will provide an additional opportunity to honor them forever. 

Next time, on August 5th, we will return to South Dakota, to honor others so worthy of our admiration and never ending respect. Join me there, at 9:00 am., as always.

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! 

Rhode Island XI

North Smithfield, Rhode Island lost five of her sons to the war in Vietnam.

Located about 25 miles north and slightly west of Providence it was founded in 1666 and as of 2010 had a population of around 12,000.

They honor their sons with this memorial that as you will see was the result of a Boy Scout's efforts. I have seen a few memorials around the country for which this was the case, but it is not common.

The last words on the memorial are certainly inspiring, and even though they are in quotes, I can find no information on by whom they were said and when. If anyone out there knows I would like

to hear from you. I am often pleased by the responses and help from readers, so do your thing and then get in touch. The email to the left is private if you prefer that over leaving a public comment.

Next time, on the 28th, we will revisit Texas, so join me there, as usual, at 9:00am.

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