Virginia XXVI

The day was dank and rainy, evening was fast approaching and I thought I might never find this memorial. I knew it was on the campus of James Madison University in Harrisonburg, but no idea as to its exact location.

We, my wife was with me this time,  drove around and around and finally gave up figuring I'd have to return at some other time.

And, there it was. No idea how or why we stumbled upon it.

With literally just minutes of light left I was able to get these pics.

A memorial to many that were lost from the area over the course of several wars and many years, those honored here are members of the Harrisonburg community.

The large plaque, removed from an older memorial, was first placed in 1949 to honor the 138 lost in WWII.

 

 

Along the sides are remembered those from our other more recent conflicts.

 

 

Ten of our brothers from Vietnam are remembered among the many others.

 

Next time, on the 14th, we will return to Washington, so join me there, as always, at 9:00am.

 

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

Maryland XXXIII

I have posted from Harve de Grace before and you can find that one elsewhere on this site, but I had read about a new memorial in the historic town but could not quite remember what it was about.

So, on a recent day trip to find new memorials for this site, I decided to take a chance and check it out.

After a little bungling around the beautiful town, visiting the original memorial, I finally had to ask someone. A very nice lady having her lunch along the river walk directed me to the new memorial.

It, too, is along the river walk and can be reached from Concord Street.

 

 

Since initial installation, better walking access and lighting have been added to the site.

 

The various panels all have specific meaning as you will see in the final picture.

Obverse

 

 

 

I realize that is not specifically a Vietnam memorial, but there were about 58,279 Gold Star Families from that effort so I choose to honor them with this post. My own family qualifies from WWII and the GWOT.

Next time, on November 1st, we will visit that memorial in Massachusetts I teased about in the post before this one, so meet me there, as always, at 9:00am.

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

Independence Day 2015

Followers know that at certain times of the year I choose to write about something other than Vietnam Memorials; Thanksgiving, Christmas, Veteran's Day, Memorials Day and others.

I have been thinking a lot recently about Independence Day and what it means. I guess if we asked 100 people we might get 100 different answers, but I think that it represents the bravery and thoughtful consideration of some very great men. Men who wanted freedom from tyranny and freedom to make their own choices, to establish rights for the common people, to live as they chose to live. A struggle that continues to this very day.

It got me thinking about how many have been willing to defend, often to their death, this dream. I went looking for this information and was, quite honestly, astonished at the numbers and some of the events, which I had never even heard of prior to seeing the list.

The numbers are staggering.

Since 1775, 664,440 have been lost in combat, more, 673,929 were lost to other war related incidents for a total of 1,354,644 lost, add to that the wounded and it doubles, again, 2,852,901.

These numbers are, of course, not exact or completely up to date as they change all the time. Recently, in May of 2015 several more names were added to the Vietnam Memorial, bringing the total to over 58, 300.

Vietnam ranks as the 4th highest loss rate of American wars, behind only the Civil Wat, WWI and WWII. Korea is 5th on the list and cost almost as many as Vietnam, but in far fewer years. Vietnam averaged 11 deaths a day while Korea averaged 45.

So, as we celebrate our founding and our freedoms lets also remember and honor the, literally, millions who made them possible.

Here, if you are interested, is the source of this information. Wiki is often criticized for inaccuracy and as I said these numbers can never really be known, but the number of involvements is astonishing, so check it out.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_military_casualties_of_war

The 4th of July was one of my favorite holidays in my youth. Summer, school was out, picnics, hot dogs and watermelon and fireworks, what kid could ask for more. Then, of course, I didn't really, deeply. fully, understand about the sacrifice, pain, and death that all of this encompassed. Now, I have a better idea and it saddens me. I don't much care for the holiday any longer. It is not that I don't respect and treasure the Founding Fathers, their efforts and the costs paid by those supporting these new ideas, no, it is that I no longer like the smell of the fireworks or the noise associated with them. It brings back too mush. I go every year because my son, years ago, and now his children, like all children, like me as a boy, enjoy it. I hope every year that just maybe this year will be better, but it never is. Sometimes, later in the evening, I watch the rerun of the fireworks on The Mall in D.C. on PBS and this is usually better; No noise, no smell of cordite. I will continue to go for the kids as long as they are interested, but am not sure what will happen after that. Perhaps, I will have moved on some more and it will be OK, but I doubt it, after all, it has been 50 years. I have no way to elegantly end this, so...

I'll end with a little historical side note.

Sometimes, it seems even the things we think we know are not so! We celebrate Independence Day, the day the Declaration of Independence was signed, on July 4th, but that is not the actual day the Declaration
was signed. It was signed on July 2nd, but the printer did not get around to printing it until the 4th, hence he dated it the 4th and the rest as we say, is history!

Next time, on the 9th we will return to South Dakota, so join me there at 9:00am.

To see Vietnam memorials from any state, click the state name on the left side of this page.

South Dakota II

It is not uncommon for me to dedicate two separate posts to a single site. What is a little different and what I am doing today, is!

This site in Pierre is just so cool that I want to include some of the non Vietnam features. These include tributes to Native Americans, Korean War vets, and WWII vets.

The first two pics are of the whole site. The first one is from the right as you face the lake. The Vietnam and Korean walls are to the left in this pic.

The third pic shows the side by side Korea and Vietnam memorials.

Four and five highlight the WWII guys. Note that these are in color which is a bit unusual but highly effective. I was told, just today, that at one time, one of the guys was holding a cigar in his hand while he is saluting the flag, but that it was removed because that just should not happen.

The next two are of the eagle that was placed to honor all the Native Americans that have served their country.

And the final two are of the Flaming Fountain. I could not see a flame, but that is often the case, I am trying to find out if it is actually lit or if for some reason it was not on the day I was there. As always, if I get an update after this has posted to the site, I will let you know.

Check out my annual 9/11 remembrance post on the 11th, as always, at 9:00am.

UPDATE; A nice person from South Dakota Tourism called me yesterday (9/11/12) to explain that the flames is no longer lit. It seems the pipes that deliver the gas are under the lake and have been crushed over the years. It would be incredibly expensive to drain the lake, repair the pipes, etc so there are no plans to do so. Too bad, it must have been really beautiful.

Women in service

I am sure that most people know that eight military women were killed in 'Nam, but in doing some reading I have learned that 59 civilian women perished, too! These women worked for a number of different and diverse organizations and I will list them further on.

This got me to thinking about something else I read recently. The memorial in D.C. that depicts two nurses aiding an injured G.I., and awaiting a medivac chopper, is entitled "The Woman's Memorial" although many, including locals have dubbed it "The Nurses Memorial" and I now understand why those who are most deeply involved in this site have objected to this unofficial renaming. I had no idea that 67 women had died in 'Nam!

These civilian women included;

3 American Red Cross workers
2 Army Special Services workers
1 Catholic Relief worker
2 C.I.A. agents
2 U.S.A.I.D. workers
2 Journalists
4 Missionaries
4 POW/MIAs (still unaccounted for)
1 U. S. Navy civilian
38 Killed in a plane crash during operation "Baby-lift"

Two of the 59 were children and two others were murdered by American soldiers. The remainder were mostly killed in gun battles and explosions and other hostile activity.

This got me thinking about the service of civilian women in other wars and the fact that just last month (March 2010) the Womens Army Service Pilots (WASP) were finally recognized for their exemplary service during WWII. These women performed numerous flight duties including towing targets for battleships to shoot at for practice! I know this because my former Mother-in-Law (a great lady) was one of the ones towing targets. Well, last month the organization (each member, living or deceased) was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal (the highest civilian award one may receive) and the remaining WASP members gathered in Washington D.C. for the ceremony. It is a wonderful tribute to these brave patriots, but it took over 60 years for it to happen. As a result only around 300 of the original 1600 (approximately) were actually able to see and enjoy their day of recognition.

So, the next time you are in D. C. make a point to visit The Woman's Memorial (near the Wall) and recall the service and sacrifices of our Mothers and Grandmothers in the past and our sisters in 'Nam.