Utah IX

Price, Utah calls their memorial to many wars The Peace Garden. I have featured it in the past and you can check out that post here.

 

 

 

On the base of the statue are listed names of the lost. When I first saw it, I mistakenly thought there were five, but five more are listed on the other side. I do not know if that was by design or if the numbers changed over time. It is fairly rare to find a memorial that has not had additions made with the passage of the years. 

 

Today, I will honor three of the ten. 

 

Robert R. Anderson

 

Sp4 Anderson had only three days left before rotation. He was killed on March 16, 1967 at Tay Ninh when his truck hit a mine. He never had a chance to meet his new born son.

 

Richard P. Donathan

 

LCPL Donathan was lost on August 10, 1966 in a fierce battle with the NVA in Quang Tin Province. He was from Colorado and is remembered on the North Slope Memorial but is buries in Price City, Utah and is honored, too, on the memorial in The Peace Garden.

 

Johnny S. Martinez

 

LCPL Martinez deliberately entered a mine field to rescue two Vietnamese children who had wandered into it. He accidentally triggered a mine which mortally wounder him. He lost his live on November 28th,1968 in the Quang Nam Province. A Hero two times over.

 

Next time, on August 25th, we will return to Vermont, 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 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! 

Pennsylvania

As I have posted before, this is the memorial at Butler, PA. It is the first, I think, at which I saw a POW bracelet represented. There is also one in Mobile, Alabama, and I cannot recall if I have run across any others. Let me know if you are aware of any.

These three are listed among the numbers upon the stones.

Today, I honor them: 

Larry L. Fowler

 Cpl. Fowler was lost on 11/27/69 at Thua Thien. 

 

Andrew J. Fritsch

 

 SSG. Fritsch was born on the 4th of July and gave up is life on August 10th, 1970 to small arms fire Tay Ninh. One comment I read noted that he was a Staff Sgt, leading men to battle and sometimes their deaths, including his own, and was too young to drink a beer.

William H. Goedeker

PFC Goedeker was lost on August 24th 1967 at Quang Tri on the last day of his Field Service.

R.I.P. brothers

So, as we move through the states and the names of our brothers and sisters, next time, on the 31st, we will revisit Rhode Island to honor a few more of the fallen.

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!

Oregon XXII

Driving south in Oregon eventually got me to a high school that honors its lost alum with a memorial just outside the building. I wrote about it previously and you may check out that post here, if you like.

South Eugene HS lost 11 0f its former students.

Today, I will, as is my custom, honor three of them. 

William R. Andrews

"On 5 October 1966, then Capt. William R. Andrews was the pilot of an F4C Phantom on a strike mission over North Vietnam. His aircraft was #3 in a flight of four. After the mission, the flight was directed to fly escort for a flight of two B-66s. A MiG alert was issued after which it was noticed the number three aircraft was not in the formation. No radio contact was received from the missing aircrew, but a short time later, a beeper was heard. Radio contact was subsequently made with Bill Andrews and he reported he was uninjured. Because North Vietnamese forces were approaching his position and search and rescue (SAR) personnel were receiving heavy ground fire, he could not be recovered. According to one report, as the enemy closed in on the downed pilot, Bill Andrews was supposed to have "started shooting it out with ground forces," and "one of his last transmissions was 'I have taken a hit'." The co-pilot had landed far enough away from enemy fortifications that he eventually was rescued. The location of loss was in the extremely rugged jungle covered mountains approximately 115 miles northwest of Hanoi and 20 miles east-northeast of the city of Na San, Nghia Lo Province, North Vietnam. A later coordination of records showed that Bill Andrews was listed Missing in Action, not Prisoner of War by Defense Intelligence Agency and the Air Force, while the Joint Casualty Resolution Center (JCRC), Bangkok, Thailand carried him as a prisoner, not missing. JCRC was ordered to "delete any references pertaining to POW status" in Capt. Andrews' case. The reasons behind that order were never made unclear. On 13 September 1990, Bill Andrews remains were returned to the United States. According the US Army Central Identification Laboratory - Hawaii, his remains were identified "by comparison of teeth root canals in the jawbone." He was buried with full military honors in Phoenix, Arizona on 14 February 1991."

Robert K. Collins

 

 

Cpl Collins was an Artillery and was lost under enemy engagement. 

James W. Cartwright

I read a post today from the man that Sgt. Cartwright replaced as a point man. The Sgt was killed three days later and the writer feels tremendous guilt these many years later. To those of us who, for whatever reason survived, this is a well known feeling.

I have written before about the fact that I got my orders home a few days early. On that same day, waiting to get on a plane, I received word that our camp had been hit hard and several guys I knew were lost. I get it.

Next time, on the 26th, we will revisit Pennsylvania, so, meet me there, as usual, at 9:00 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 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!

Oklahoma X

Hulbert Memorial

 

Grover Boston

Cpl. Boston was lost on May 2, 1968. Even more tragically, he was a loss to "friendly fire."

William A. Gritts

Cpl. Gritts was an 11B (infantryman) and was lost on June 13, 1968 at Gia Dinh. He was killed by hostile fire from a gun or small arms.

Thomas Mckinzie

 Cpl. McKinzie was lost in the Quang Ngai Province on November 17, 1968. He was lost to hostile fire.

The reason I chose these three for inclusion today is that they were all lost in 1968. For an area that seems to have lost only five, it seems that '68 was an unholy year for them.

I ask you to join me on the 21st of July when we will return to Oregon to add and honor a few more faces, as always at 9:00 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 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!

New York XXXII

New York, as you may know, holds the dubious honor of having lost the second most of her sons and daughters in the Vietnam war. Only California lost more. Of the 4119 lost, I would like to honor a few today.

 

 

This monument honors but a few of the many noted above.

 

Today, these:

 

 

 

Cpl. Heinz was lost in Thua Thien on March 4th, 1968. 

Barry Bidwell is one of the still remaining MIAs and has a home record of Greensburg, Pennsylvania and found his way to Springfield. This hits home with me as my long departed mother was born in Greensburg, too. He was lost in a plane crash and his remains were never recovered

LCPL Ellis was lost in Quang Tri on July 7, 1969.

Sgt. Crosby is also listed among the MIAs. It seems odd to me to have two of the four from Springfield as MIAs. I hope their families some day, some how find peace.

I am sure that in the future I will have the honor of honoring additional heroes from New York.

I ask you to join me on the 1st of July when we will return to to add and honor a few more faces, as always at 9:00 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 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.

New Mexico XXXII

It is an honor today to return to Lordsburg, New Mexico to honor two fallen soldiers and one female soldier, who, as you know, are largely a rarity.

 PO2 Ben Dugan

Petty Officer 2 Dugan was lost on July 4th, 1969 in Hau Nghai Province

LCPL Magdaleno Tarango

LCPL Magdaleno Tarango was lost in the Quang Tri Provence on March 5th, 1967 

And, the female soldier from the area. Many do not know that 10 to 11 thousand women served in 'Nam. You can read more about their service and sacrifice here.

 

 Isobel O. Madrid

I ask you to join me on the 26th of June when we will return to New York to add and honor a few more faces, as always at 9:00 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 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.

New Jersey XXXIII

The memorial in Runnemede, NJ sits along the highway and I happened to see it as I sat in dead stopped traffic: Silver lining!!

It lists many names of those who served.

Buried among the many who served (120) are two KIAs and I want to honor them today. I am somewhat surprised that there are only two

The first if these is:

PFC Gilch was lost on July 21, 1966. The location of his loss is listed as "unknown."

 LCPL Haley was lost on September 1st 1967 at Thua Thien.

I ask you to join me on the 21st of June when we will return to New Mexico and a rare opportunity to honor one of the intrepid women who served in Vietnam, as always at 9:00 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 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.

Montana VIII

 

Some years back, I happened upon a roadside memorial in Dillon, Montana with quite a remarkable story. Take a couple of minutes and check it out here and here.

Today, as I have been doing lately, I want to put a few more faces with names. I have been calling this subset of posts "Faces of Remembrance " and you can find examples throughout these pages, some lost and some not. So honor these from Montana with me today.

I note that this is the same hero honored in Bedford, PA. You can see that post elsewhere on this site.

I did a search of VVMF's Wall of Faces and, happily, found none of these names and while there are still a few pictures missing from the Wall Of Faces, I choose to believe that these men made it home.

Next time, on the 26th of May, Memorial Day this year, we will honor all of the fallen, so, join me, as always, at 9:00 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 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.

Minnesota X

In a past post I told the story of asking for directions in South Dakota and ended up in Minnesota, I recount that story here if you would care to check it out.

Among the other features of the Jasper Cemetery are, of course, names and here are a few of them today.

I was unsure if these names were of the lost or among the millions that served due to the way they were listed at the site.. I went to The Wall of Faces ( https://www.vvmf.org/Wall-of-Faces/ ) and determined that these, blessedly, are among those that served. One of them is the husband of the nice woman who took me to this site.

Next time, on the 16th of May, we will venture, again, to Mississippi to honor a few of the fallen, so, join me, as always, at 9:00 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 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.

Louisiana VIII

In what I believe was my very first post from Louisiana, I commented that the state seemed to have no official memorial but, that there were two in New Orleans.

That was June 11, 2012. Now, I just read that an official Louisiana State Memorial, honoring all 885 lost, was dedicated on Saturday March 29,2025: the 30th anniversary of the fall of Saigon.

Congratulations Louisiana.

Until I can get back to Louisiana, I will continue to try to honor those lost or who served in any way that I can.

One of the very first pictures I ever took in the state was not far from the airport at Dignity Memorial Gardens and seems to honor a number of Air Force vets who were captured. (This is one of the times I hope to hear from someone more knowledgeable that I am as I cannot track down information on the site.)

These names are crops from the 35 names listed here. Some are so weathered that they hard to read.

 

 

These photos were taken from the Wall of Faces, part of VVMF's effort to gather a face for every name on The Wall. You can see the thousands more they have collected here.

Next time, on the 26th of April, we will venture, again, to  Maryland, so, join me, as always, at 9:00 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 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.