Texas XXIII

Texas has the distinction of being the state that gave the third highest number of her sons and daughters lost in Vietnam (following California and New York,)

I have posted 22 previous times from Texas and, today, want to highlight and honor a few of her lost.

Texarkana Vietnam/Korea Memorial. You can read more about this multi-state memorial here.

Oddie C. Hailey

Sgt. Oddie Hailey was lost on June 23, 1967, in the Quang Ngai Province. However, there are conflicting reports about his death. VVMF calls his loss a "misadventure" which apparently is an euphemism for "friendly fire." Also stated is "mistaken for Viet Cong... shot" and other sites say killed by "multiple fragmentation wounds..." in "hostile action..."  

Howard Lee Elder

Sgt Howard Elder was lost to "small arms fire" in a "hostile" action in the Binh Dinh Province. He gave his all on July 8, 1970. Again, the lack of information is simply appalling.

Wayne Lee Harland

Sgt. Wayne Harland served his tour in 'Nam and decided to extend for an additional 6 months (I didn't know you could do that.) He was lost halfway through his extension. He was lost to "hostile'' "explosive device'' on May 1, 1968, at Binh Dinh.

Next time on June 12th, we will return to Utah, 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 two) 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.

Arkansas VII

My last stop in Arkansas was in Texarkana. Actually, Texarkana, as the name implies is actually in Arkansas and Texas. The state line runs right through town and I have read that the memorial actually sits on the line, part in Arkansas and part in Texas! But, it actually is dedicated to and honors soldiers from four states, Oklahoma and Louisiana, also, border the area and these, too, are remembered here.

The memorial began as a community project that fizzled out over time until the local Vietnam Veterans of America (278) decided to revive it and make it a reality. Once work began in earnest, in July 1988, things began to happen. Local contractors and businesses donated money, materials and services to the chapter members who were hard at work on their own. After a few months of mostly volunteer labor the site was dedicated in November of  '88!

The site remembers nearly 400 lost from Vietnam and on the other side of the memorial, Korea. Since the dedication, another plaque has been added honoring 20th Century Veterans and listing those lost in other actions since Vietnam.

I called today to get an exact count (226)  of Vietnam vets listed on the site. The very nice woman I spoke with at the Texarkana Chamber of Commerce did not know and was unable to find that info in records at her disposal. So, she said she was going to "send somebody down there to get a correct count" and that she would call me back later. (She called about an hour later!) This made me think that my last stop in Arkansas was a mirror image of my first. If you are a follower of this site you know that Dr. Ware, the Historian at the State Capitol went out, himself, to ensure that the count I had for all of Arkansas was correct! I am, once again, astounded at the kindness of people and saying thank you seems insufficient.

Update: The memorial, while it rests upon State Line Avenue, is actually located in the State of Texas! Thanks once again to the Texarkana Chamber of Commerce! I will, however, leave it listed here with Arkansas memorial as I was in Arkansas for this trip. When those from Texas click on Texas on the left side of this page, it will appear there, too!

In doing my research, I was interested to learn that a number of prominent people are from Texarkana. Scott Joplin, Parnelli Jones, Ross Perot and a number of others all come from the area.

Next time, we move into Missouri. There are interesting sites and stories from The Show Me State. Join me there on the 8th, as always, at 9:00am.