South Carolina IX

We have visited Patriots Point, near Charleston, in the past and today I want to feature names from the 896 (I have, also seen 980 from other sources) dog tags on display at this really outstanding site.

All of these names are from York, South Carolina:

Jonny Phillip Costner

SGT Jonny Costner was lost in Ninh Thuan Province "non-hostile...other causes..." on November 10, 1970. Sadly, it was reported that he took his own life.

This is the best photo I could find

On March13th 1971 SP4 Robert Good was lost in the Binh Dinh Province reports disagree about the cause of his death. Some sources report "accidental homicide" while others say, "intentional homicide...."

Abraham Harris

PVT Abraham Harris was lost at Long An on October 13, 1967, to "multiple fragmentation wounds..."

It is interesting and a little disturbing to learn that of the three soldiers lost from York, South Carolina that one was murdered and one committed suicide.

I repeatedly whine about the lack of information about our lost soldiers, but the lack of good pictures is another issue. I recall that we were all taken, during basic, to have portraits taken. Was this only at Ft. Bragg? I assumed that it was done everywhere, perhaps not. Please comment if you did or did not have a photo taken.

Next time on May 28th, we will return to South Dakota, 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.

Maine X

I know that last time I said we would return to Maryland today, but, somehow I managed to skip over Maine. Don't want to do that and in keeping with the alphabetical nature of these posts, today: Maine.

This small memorial honors the four from the York area that paid the ultimate price.

 I am not sure what this memorial was made from but as you can see the names and info are hard to read

The four  names, date of loss, where they were lost and their units are inscribed upon the memorial along with a few other details and the top inscription is from the poem For the Fallen, by Lawrence Binyon:

"They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning...."

It sits just outside the Virginia Weare Parsons Education Center and the ground around it was recently upgraded and improved by local vets and cemetery staff..

The memorial is under the care of the First Parish Cemetery located at 108 York Street.

This another of the far too many memorials about which I can find very little information. If you are from the area or know something about it, I would really like to hear from you and I will update new info here,

So, next time, on the 18th, we will revisit Maryland as previously promised. Join me there, as always, at 9:00am.

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

Pennsylvania IV

I really liked this memorial, so I decided to include it, even though it does not precisely meet the criteria of Vietnam Memorials.

The Prospect Hill Cemetery, in York, Pa. built this site to honor anyone who had been awarded the medals of Valor. It sits high on a hill overlooking the cemetery. The most intriguing component, I suppose, is that the lintel across the top is an actual piece of the World Trade Center. So, you might say that the site also pays homage to the 9-11 victims and heroes, as well.

You can find more information at;

http://www.prospecthill.org/CourtOfValor.htm

Pennsylvania II

I returned to Pennsylvania and went to York, Pa. because I had heard of the new memorial built there. It turns out that it was dedicated on October 3 of 2009. When I arrived there was a gentleman there and we started talking and he told me that he had just taken over the Memorial Committee Chairmanship two days earlier.

He walked me around the memorial pointing out features that one might not have noticed otherwise. For example; the eagles on top were actually created for a different memorial, but when the originators of that memorial backed out on the artist, the Vietnam committee grabbed them up to add to this site. In addition, he told me that when the wind blows hard enough, it catches the wings of the eagles and actually move them into different positions atop the memorial.

He showed me where one soldier's name had been misspelled on the pylon and rather than try to correct it (impossible) or ignore it, they re-carved the name on the other side of the pylon. I think that is just classy!

He showed me where they had just repaired some vandalism and pointed out the last commemorative bricks that had just been placed the day before. Additionally, he explained that one of the figures in the triad is a woman, a nurse, as depicted by the fact that she is wearing no hip gear, as are the two soldiers.

The third picture here is the reflection of some of the commemorative bricks in the base of the memorial

I particularly liked the stones at each entrance admonishing all who enter; "This is hallowed ground, tread respectfully"

This is a beautiful site that is located at the York Fair Grounds and is well marked through the city, so it is not difficult to find. The gentleman, also, told me that they are in the process of making the site more accessible to those with health issues of one kind or another.

Good job, York!