Tennessee X

One of the highlights of my trip to Soddy-Daisy, Tennessee was a visit to the memorial there, after a great meeting and breakfast with the guys from VVA 942.

The site is described in greater detail in previous posts that you may read  here and here.

 

Soddy-Daisy, Tennessee memorial

There are only six from the area remembered on the memorial and today, I will honor three of them. 

James A. Benton

LCPL Benton was on a helicopter leaving a ship when it crashed into the ship. His body was never recovered. He was lost on April 27, 1967 and, I believe, is the first MIA I have tried to honor here.

James R. Potter

 SSG. Potter's chopper was shot down In Tay Ninh Province on September 11, 1969. He was RECON for the famous Big Red 1.

John D. Reynolds

 

PFC Reynolds was lost at Quang Tri on September 9, 1967. His death on September 8th was due to an artillery attack.

Next time, on August 15th, we will return to Texas, to honor others so worthy of our admiration and never ending respect. Join me there, at 9:00 a.m., 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!  

Tennessee III

I had the great honor of being invited by the Soddy-Daisy Chapter of Vietnam Veteran's of America (Chap. 942) to join some of them for breakfast while in the town. I had a great time visiting this great group of guys and learning about their chapter and their memorial. My thanks to them all!

The memorial sits in a Veteran's Park in the town that has a number of other memorials in it including a very poignant one to 911.

The Huey that is the centerpiece of the 'Nam site dominates the scene. One could easily believe that it is protecting all the others from intrusion or harm, just as it must have done for so many while in country. She served in '66 and '67, was damaged on several occasions but never brought down. Later, she served as a trainer and in National Guard Units until retirement.

The first image is of the coin the chapter had made. When I admired it, they kindly gave me one. I carry it all the time. Thanks, guys!

This site has so many interesting components that I think it may take more than one post to do it justice. More in the next post. Remember, I post every 5 days at 9:00 am and also, remember that if you click on a picture, it will enlarge for easier viewing.