Kansas IX

In the Veterans Memorial Park in Wichita not far from the large Vietnam memorial there is also a smaller one to those who served.

The text is hard to read due to the sun reflecting from the plaque, so I have copied here for you.

                          " In Memory of All Vietnam Veterans
This memorial was erected in memory of the young individuals who went to war as kids and lost their youthful dreams, and some their lives, for a cause - Freedom and Honor - and came back as men with the horrors of war distilled in every fiber of their being and were never given the respect and honor they so dearly deserve from the Public or United States Government.

God will one day judge our actions. Until then, He will shine on the lives of each veteran now and forever more because He was with each of them in Vietnam. He is the only one that truly knows what they went through and are living with every day.

                       Dedicated to Those Lives 

                                           Affected by Vietnam"

I have commented in the past about how much it pleases me to see statements that include all who were affected by the war as seen here. They are surprisingly rare.

Next time, on the 7th we'll venture back to Louisiana, so meet me there at 9:00am.

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

Maine XVII

Old Orchard Beach lies about a half an hour north of Kennebunkport, Me.

A lovely New England town that features a Veterans Memorial Park. Like many of these, the park has sports fields and facilities, picnic areas, and kids playgrounds, etc. The Park is nearly in Saco Bay so water sports are easily accessed, too.

The memorials area of the park is spread out over a fairly large area and from some angles nearly secluded by trees.


This first, largest view, as you can see, nearly conceals the larger memorials here.

This view shows the largest of the markers in the park. You can see that one plaque is missing, the one in the center is to WWII vets and the one on the right is to a specific Catholic Chaplin.

Down at what might be called the entrance is this stone which honors WWI vets.

Vietnam and Korea are remembered on this separate stone.

Located at 4 Heath Street it is a beautiful park and should not be missed if in the area. If you visit, take a moment to stop and honor those who who made such sacrifices over so many years.

Next time on the 23rd, we will return to Maryland, so join me there at 9:00am.

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

Connecticut XIII

This beautiful memorial park is in Stamford, Connecticut.

Like most of these, it honors many for many eras and wars. Called, Veterans Memorial Park it was dedicated in 1977 and is located on Atlantic Street, near Main Street.

There are a number of components here, a statue to Lincoln, a Doughboy from WWII, a marker to the founders of the town among the tributes to WWII, Korea, and Vietnam.

This one featuring two grieving women speaks to the loss of war and those left behind.

The In Memoriam marker lists the more than 200 from Stamford who gave their lives in WWII, Korea, and 'Nam.  There are 26 from 'Nam, grouped by branch of service.

There are plans to erect a tribute to a local Medal of Honor recipient.

Next time, on the 23rd, we will revisit Georgia, so, join me there, as always, at 9:00am.

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

New York XII

Once again, I find myself in wonder. I visited this fairly elaborate memorial in Hicksville, New York and yet I can find nothing about it on line. All searches take me to Hicksville, Ohio, or to East Meadows where there is a great memorial in Eisenhower Park. I have written about that one previously. I have tried to contact the local newspaper, to no avail.

I had gone to Hicksville to see a memorial that turned out to be a part of a funeral home and the man there asked if I knew the one at the local school? I had not heard about this one and he took me out back and pointed just a block or two away from where we were standing.

If memory serves me (always doubtful) it stands on the grounds of the Hicksville Middle School.

The Veterans Memorial Park is dedicated to many veterans from many wars including our comrades from Vietnam.

Next time, on the 24th, we revisit Oregon, so as always, join me there at 9:00am.

To see additional memorial from New York, or any other state, click on the state name on the left side of this page.

New York IX

About an hour or so south (and a little east) of Buffalo is Salamanca.

They have a beautiful Veterans Memorial Park here and many are honored and remembered. There are several memorials and seven who were lost in 'Nam are listed on this one.

There are a great number of these stones, about 700 hundred I have read,  with names upon them, but no other information is posted and I could find nothing on line, so, as always, if you know anything, let me know.

The 'Nam memorial has two interesting components. It refers to the war as the Indo-China War, which is not unheard of, but rare on memorials.

The other is the remembrance of all those from other nations who gave their all for the effort, too.

The park is located at 520 broad Street and has many recreational activities open to the public.

Next time, on the 24th, we will drop in again to North Carolina,

so join me there, as usual, at 9:00am.

To see other memorials from New York, or any other state, click the state name on then left side off this page.

New Mexico X

Truth or Consequences may be best know for the TV game show of the same name, but it, also, should be known for the great Veterans Memorial Park and the Hamilton Museum that are located in the town on the same site.

This park has much to offer as it is more of a multi-war park that attempts to tell our history as one walks its paths.

Vietnam is prominent here, with a half scale replica of The Wall. It is one of the retired Traveling Walls that found its final home on the site.

 These markers are along the walkways and speak to our wars and the people who served in them.

This guy is called the Guardian of the Park.

There is just too much here to include in one post, so I will return at some time in the future to share more of what is in the park and what is in the museum.

The Park and Museum may be reached at;

996 S. Broadway
Truth or Consequences, NM 87901
Phone: (575) 894-7640
Email: TheWall@windstream.net

It is 154 miles south of Albuquerque on Rte. 25.

Next time, on the 2nd of February will will return to New York, so join me there, as always, at 9:00am.


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

New Mexico VIII

I have visited the Veterans Memorial in Albuquerque a number of times. The first time I visited the Vietnam memorial was either incomplete or under repair and not suitable for photos. The next time, it was snowing and I was able to get some interesting pics of the recently added statue, but not quite what I wanted. The next time, the site was complete, undamaged and it was not snowing. The following pictures are from this most recent visit.

The soldier here, kneels before a Field Cross, a tradition dating back to the Civil War. Someone had recently placed a small American flag on the statue.

 The face of loss and sorrow, universal to all, is captured, here, so remarkably by the sculptor.

This is the plaque on the wall seen in the first picture. It lists the names of the some 400 New Mexicans who were sacrificed in 'Nam. I know I said the site was undamaged, but on closer inspection there seems to be something missing here.

This plaque sits on the corner of the stone base and explains its color.

There are a number of these stiles explaining the history of the war. I found them to full of inaccuracies. I have no idea if these were just honest mistakes or further examples of the revisionist history that I find, all too often, in my travels. I hope they are just errors because I met some of the folks that run this place and they seem like great people.

There is more than enough here to go on and on, so I will come back to this wonderful site at a later time. this memorial sits among many others in this 25 acre park. It is filled with roses and tributes of many kinds. It can be found near Kirtland AFB at 1100 Louisiana Blvd. in Albuquerque.

Join me on the 19th, when we will revisit New York, as always at 9:00am.

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

Florida X

Port St. Lucie lies on the Atlantic coast of Florida about 90 miles north of Ft. Lauderdale. At the Veteran's Memorial Park on Veteran's Memorial Highway is this memorial that is very reminiscent of The Wall in DC.

It lists the 1954 from the state who made the ultimate sacrifice in Vietnam. They are honored and remembered here forever.

This portrayal of The Three Servicemen gives a slightly more stark version of the message from the one in DC.

It always makes me feel a little better when I see that those who suffered long after the war are remembered. I read this week that 22 service personnel resort to suicide every day. We are getting better at dealing with the suffering and loss of our brothers and sisters but for far too many the help comes too little, too late.

One of the markers at the site proclaims this to be Florida's Vietnam Memorial. I am not sure who gets to decide that because the official one is in Tallahassee (seen elsewhere on this site) but, I guess it does not matter to me, there cannot be too many in my opinion. 

In Ireland there is a "discussion" going on as to whether there should be a second memorial built to the many Irish citizens who came to America to enlist in the service and fight in Vietnam. There were actually quite a few and at least 19 are honored on The Wall and I don't see how an additional memorial should bother anyone.

Detail from above

Next time, on February 5th, we will meet again in Idaho. So, join me there at 9:00am

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

New Hampshire IX

Some days you just cannot predict what will happen. I was in Nashua, New Hampshire on one of my very first trips to find Vietnam memorials. I was truly flying by the seat of my pants as to how to do this. Unable to find the memorial I was looking for, I walked into City Hall and into the Mayor's office. Needless to say, I didn't get to see the Mayor, but I did get to meet his Administrative Assistant and boy was that lucky!

She not only went well out of her way to help me locate the memorial, she also hooked me up with one of the guys responsible for it. I talked with him at some length and he told me that the original memorial had been built down by a creek and was eventually pretty much forgotten about. After trying unsuccessfully to get it cared for, he and a couple of other vets took it upon themselves to change things and the current site is the result. Thank you to each of these kind folks who helped me get started on this journey and for honoring those nearly forgotten heroes.

To make a long story at little shorter, the memorial was eventually moved to it's current location and a new was was added at the same spot.

The park is now The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Park and is home to Cal Ripkin Baseball as well as the memorials.

The original, smaller memorial was moved to this new location.

Plaque detail

The newer memorial, added in 2008, lists the names of all 18 from the Nashua area who were lost.

So, the journey has continued, and grown, to where we are today. I have visited every state at least once, some many more, and have visited somewhere around 500 memorials. The journey is not over. I have leaving soon to return to Colorado, then Nevada, then Maine, Oregon, and Washington, who knows after that?

Next time, however, we will revisit New Jersey. Join me on the 28th at 9:00am.

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

Utah III

This unusually shaped memorial is in Kearns, Utah. When I saw it, it stood in the corner of a Big Lots parking lot. A little odd I thought at the time, but it was at a fairly busy intersection so I figured that must have something to do with its placement.

Well, as luck would have it the road needed to be widened so the memorial has been moved. I have read that it has been refurbished and now sits across the street from a Kearns High School at the new Veterans Memorial Park at the local recreation center. The exact address is 5670 S. Cougar Lane (4800 West).

The original site, which reportedly was the site of the entrance to the now defunct Army base, Camp Kearns, which was closed in 1946, measured 20 by 20 and also housed a WW1 canon and some flag poles. All of these have been moved to the new site.

I have been unable to find any additional information about this site. As always, if you know something, I would love to hear about it. You can contact me at; 50statememorials@gmail.com.

Next time, on July 1st we will travel on to Carbon, Utah, so join me there as always at 9:00am

Nebraska II

The Veterans Memorial Garden within Antelope Park in Lincoln contains a number of other memorials. Most, not surprisingly, are not Vietnam. Here are a couple that are and a few I thought were interesting.

There was no explanation as to why this separately marked stone was here, but its simplicity is elegant.

A tribute to POW/MIAs stands nearby.

In another part of the park, this solemn remembrance of those who were POW's reminds us that we must never forget their service and immeasurable sacrifice.

I am sure there are others, perhaps at Fort Bragg (although I didn't see one when I visited) but this is the first I have photographed. It is showing some signs of wear, I hope there are plans to keep this one and all of them in the park, in good condition.

The plaque on the base of the  memorial.

I have written before about my former Mother-in-Law having been a W.A.S.P. and the contribution that she and he brave friends made to the WWII effort. This  site is not about WWII but I never want to miss an opportunity to pay homage to these brave, groundbreaking women without whom WWII may have dragged on longer or perhaps even had a different outcome.

Next time, on the 22nd, we will visit Kearney whee a small memorial remembers and honors those from the areas lost to the war. Join me, as always, at 9:00am.