Hawai'i

 

Today is a momentous day for me as the first part of this long journey is now complete!  It is just a matter of chance, however, that our 50th state is the last, the 50th, state I visited. Several earlier attempts to visit the islands did not work out as planned, so, it turned out to be the final state on this journey.

I have written before about how, at times, the magnitude of this project threatened to overwhelm me. I wondered if I would ever, actually, get to all fifty states. Two or three years back, it sometimes just seemed as if I might never make it to this final spot, this last of the last. So, having gotten here I am somewhat overwhelmed, once again. It seems fitting that this journey be completed in this remarkable and beautiful place. Hawai’i was the one R&R destination that G.I.s could come to meet their wives, so there was kind of an unspoken “rule” that we who were not married would not fill up the spots available so that these married guys could come to this paradise. It is interesting that I remember some of the married guys talking about how hard it was to leave the islands and return to ‘Nam after spending time with their wives and families, “back in the world.”  I wonder if any of them considered not coming back at all or if any actually did not return?

You could spend a life time, I suppose, talking about and photographing the beauty of the Hawaiian Islands. Until, you actually visit, you will not truly understand what "tropical paradise" means.

The Vietnam Memorial in Honolulu is on the Capitol grounds not far from the similar Korean Memorial. I had read many times that they were all the same, joint, memorial and in a way that is true, as they are of the same design. However, each stands alone, silent and beautiful commemorating and honoring their lost.

This serpentine wall of individual blocks winds through a copse of Palm trees. Each block has the name of a Hawaiian solder etched upon it.

A timeline helps visitors locate a particular loved one's name

It was during the visit to photograph the state memorial that I learned about the future dedication of a new Vietnam Memorial at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. I did not think at the time that I would be able to swing two trips to Hawai'i in the same year, but as time went by I finally decided that I could not afford not to return.

On November 11, 2012, a new addition was dedicated at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific known as The Punchbowl. A WWII memorial was completed in 1971. It consists of a number of large mosaic panels depicting the war in the Pacific. There are panels of text included for additional clarification. These panels were designed by Mary Jacobs and she was later asked to do some for Korea, which she did. Now, all these years later, she has designed panels for Vietnam. Mary attended the dedication in Honolulu, the first she has been able to attend although she has visited the site before. It seems as if the memorial at The Punchbowl has now been completed, come full circle. I think it is fitting that Mary was able to attend. I had a chance to meet her and she is an inspiration. She has had an amazing life and shows no sign of slowing down even though she turned 90 years old in December, 2012! I posted previously about this new memorial and you can find it on this site.  (Look at December 2012) I will end this visit to Hawai'i with some additional photos from " The Punchbowl."

I revisited the state memorial on my return trip and was struck how the trees seem to keep it always in the shade. It feels as if they are protecting those who are remembered and honored in the sacred spot.  

Plaque at entrance to memorial area

While there I got to thinking about those married guys who made the decision to return to ‘Nam. One of the duties I had in ‘Nam was as C.Q. (Charge of Quarters). One of my responsibilities was to guard prisoners. American prisoners. We had no jail, so these guys were chained to a large I-bolt embedded in the floor of the company office. They were mostly just kids who had never been very far from the place there were born. They just got caught up in being away from home, probably scared out of their wits and one day just decided to not to report for duty. It seemed to always be the same story. They had hooked up with some woman in the nearest town, started living there and just decided one day to not come back. Of course, they were always caught and ended up, awaiting transportation to somewhere else, in chains, with me. I always felt just a little sorry for them and have wondered often, as I did this day in Honolulu why some guys come back and some guys don’t and what has happened to them all! How were there lives changed, possibly forever, by their fear, inexperience, and poor decisions?

This post may have read as if the journey is over. Not so. I have hundreds of additional sites that I will continue to post on the same every fifth day at 9:00am schedule. Before that happens, however, I have several more from beautiful Hawai'i. So, join me at 9:00am on August 3rd when we will visit a smaller, yet, dignified memorial on Hawai'i's North Shore.

Nevada II

After driving through the mountains from California, my first memorial destination was Reno, Nevada. The snow was 14 feet deep in places and I was astounded that the state was not only able to keep the mountain roads open, they were clear and dry. BIG (unlike ones we see here!)Plows working everywhere as it was snowing as I made the trip, I was impressed. I've never seen snow like this and driving into Truckee, for a quick rest stop, was like going through a tunnel of snow. California and Nevada pledge to keep a couple of roads between the two states open and based on this, they mean it! It was quite an adventure!

The memorial, here, sits in a small park on a street corner on S. Virginia Ave. Watched over by General Jesse Reno, the park honors many including those lost in The Global War On Terror, it has the ships bell from the USS Nevada, Military flags and honors all veterans.

Unfortunately, while in Nevada I was only able to track down these two (Reno and Carson City) sites. So, for now, this is all there are. Since then, I have located a few others and will return when possible to visit them and record them here.

Next, we visit the 50th state, Hawai'i, a state I could return to over and over. There are a couple of nice memorials in this paradise and I invite you to join me in Honolulu to see the official state memorial. Join me on the 28th at 9:00am for the first of this series.

Nevada I

Nevada's Vietnam Memorial may be the most unusual one I have found to date. In many ways it is elegantly simple. It consists of several rocks with plaques bearing the names of the 151 lost and missing from the state. In addition, there are the usual flags and benches. It is in Mills Park in the capitol, Carson City. I had an unusually hard time finding it but was helped by a city employee who knew where it was. Probably the knee high snow complicated things, too!

What makes it unique is that it was built by a VVA group. That by itself may not be surprising. What is surprising is that this VVA Chapter was founded by the Nevada State Correctional Institution Warden and it members are inmates! The native stone that has been used in several buildings in the area was quarried near the prison and shaped and finished by the inmates. In the end it took three chapters of VVA to complete the project and two were made up of incarcerated vets. I have heard that 40% of the homeless are vets and I wonder what the percentage of those imprisoned might be?

Upon the stones are five plaques chronicling the lost and missing. Not surprisingly, '67, '68, and '69 bear the greatest numbers. '68, the year I was there, has the most with 49.

The memorial is located in the Northeast corner of Mills Park, 1111 East William Street, Carson City, NV.

Next time, we will visit Reno, the first memorial I saw in Nevada. Located in a small corner park it honors many. See the Vietnam components on July24th at 9:00am.

Utah VI

Further south of Salt Lake City and West Vally is the city of Murray. In the park there, a memorial that has changed some over the years honors all who severed in-country.

Originally a fountain stood in this spot and the markers told that it was in honor of the local citizens who served. Over time, for reasons I could not determine, the fountain was converted to a flower bed.

The dedication plaque is a little hard to read, the sun was amazingly bright on this particular day and I could just not quite get the "shot" I wanted. It reads as follows;

The Vietnam War Memorial Fountain

In honor of the young men from Murray City who

served in Vietnam from 1963 to 1973, Their

efforts were designed to preserve, defend and 

protect the integrity and dignity of the 

individual and promote peace and Freedom

    throughout the world.

May this fountain inspire us to maintain

unity in our country in a manner that will

assure sucess in carrying out these policies

of social justice to all mankind

The memorial can be found in the circle at the entrance to Murray City Park at S. State and Constitution Circle.

This completes our journey through Utah. Next time we venture into Nevada. Our first stop will be Carson City, the home of the Nevada State Vietnam Memorial. This one is really unusual because of the story of its construction. Join me on the19th, as always, at 9:00am.

Utah V

Just a little south of Salt lake City is West Valley. The Utah Cultural Celebration Center is located here and it is home to a memorial to the American and Vietnamese soldiers who fought side by side in the hopes of bring independence, peace, and freedom to South Vietnam.

The two battle clad warriors stand side by side proudly holding the flags of their respective countries. They gaze off somewhere, perhaps the future as they hope it will be.

The soldiers stand above an amphitheater like area as if watching over it.

On this journey I have made it a priority to try to take "portrait" like pictures of the soldiers I find. I am not sure what I will do with them all, but, I think I might one day do posts or a story just about the faces.

The American

The Vietnamese

 The Center located at 1355 West 3100 South in West Valley City, UT.


Next time, we will venture down a little further south of Salt Lake City to Murray City to a small city park that has a memorial to all who served. So join me on the 14th, at 9:00am for our last stop in Utah.

Independence Day 2013

Today, Independence Day, 2013, like most Americans, I am thinking about freedom, the right to self-determination, and in a larger sense, human rights.

I have written before about how this journey to visit, photograph and honor Vietnam memorials around the nation has been fraught with incidents or coincidences for which I have absolutely no explanation. My wife attributes these to some greater plan that is ensuring that this work gets done, and done by me. I, on the other hand, scoff at this idea (and most others of this sort) but these things do keep happening. I am at a point where I no longer have much of an argument for her.

The latest of these events took place recently while we were in Texas. I had set up a schedule which included a long day trip to Houston and Galveston to see the memorials in these cities.

We had just this one day, so I was disappointed to arise to nasty weather.  It was cloudy, rainy, grey and completely uninviting. I stalled around hoping the day would improve. It did not and not, surprisingly, neither did my mood. The worse the weather got, the fouler my mood became. As you might guess these trips are not always easy and missed opportunities are not easily reclaimed.

When I was finally forced to give up on this long trip it was mid afternoon.  To try to salvage something, we decided to visit the LBJ Library in Austin, not too far from where we were staying. This, at least, would give me a chance to see a model of the proposed Vietnam Memorial that is to be constructed on the Capitol grounds.

As we were preparing to go, my wife said, “Maybe this means something else is supposed to happen.” And, as always, I scoffed. I said something like “Even if that is true, it certainly won’t happen if you expect it or ask for it!” 

While at the Johnson Library, I was surprised to find an exhibit by a local artist who had created a display of dog tags, accurately inscribed, with the names of the more than 3100 Texans who lost their lives in Vietnam. It was breathtaking and I was able to photograph it. (Pics of these and the model of the coming memorial will be posted on this site at a future time)

While speaking to a docent at the library, she suggested we take the time to go see ”What Austin used to be like” She directed us to the Congress Street section of town where we found eclectic stores and restaurants and a whole array of Food Trucks, for which the area has become famous.

As we walked the streets we passed a book store. In the window was a large format photo book called Vietnam in Flames.    

What immediately caught my eye was that it was by two Vietnamese authors. I thought that it might have an interesting perspective.

 I went in and pulled it out of the window and began paging through it. It turns out that the authors were actually photographers and it was filled with photos of the war. Then I noticed a note on the first page inside. Handwritten was “Inscribed by the Prime Minister to the National Security Advisor.”  I paged over to find a hand written inscription that began with “To my  friend Walt W. Rostow…”  Well, I know who Rostow is; A speech writer to Eisenhower, and NSA to both Kennedy and Johnson. He was a war hawk and was instrumental in the increasing American involvement in Vietnam. I found all this interesting, but I had seen the price being asked and put the book back in the window.

We left the store and as we got a few yards away, I turned to my wife and said, “No, I need to go back and look at that some more.”  So we returned.

I, once again, removed the book from the window. On the first visit, I had not even finished reading the inscription because I had no knowledge of the Prime Minister of Vietnam. Didn’t even know they had a Prime Minister, I figured it was just some ceremonial position. Well, I looked again and the inscription continued and was signed by; Nguyen Cao Ky! Yes, that Ky!

Ky's note and signature

I was stunned. I went to the counter and told the owner that Ky was not the Prime Minister, but, in fact, then first elected Vice President of Vietnam. (Later research confirmed that he was Prime Minister before the elections) He and General Thieu were elected in the first ”Free elections” in the country. Their validity and “Free”ness can be debated at another time. So, I was in a little bit of shock. I was holding in my hands a book signed by Nguyen Cao Ky! I was in 'Nam during the elections and his name was heard every day.

For those who may not know, Ky was one of those larger than life figures. He was a fighter pilot in the Vietnamese Air Force, and a General. He was young, handsome, and flamboyant. He was usually seen in a leather pilot’s jacket, shades, and a long white scare around his neck. Very Cary Grant!  He was immensely popular with the people and my guess is that is why Thieu hated him so much. That aside, they were elected to govern The Republic.

The inscription is dated November 28, 1970 and a Vietnamese Christmas card was tucked inside, too. I had sent a few of these home, so it was a little unnerving to see one again.

The owner of the book store told me that she had handled the estate of Mr. Rostow. It seems his son is not particularly proud of his father’s role in the escalation of the war and just wanted all of this stuff gone. I told her my story and eventually said, "What do I have to do to get this book? I can’t possibly afford the price you are asking." She said, “It seems to me that you are the guy that SHOULD have this book, let’s see what we can work out.” We worked it out and I became the owner.

When we got outside, I turned to my wife and said, "You were right. This is why we didn't get to go to Houston!" Words I never expected to hear from my mouth, but there you go!

Once it arrived home, I had the opportunity to sit and actually read the text. There is not too much, it is primarily a book of photographs. The text that is there, however, is somewhat heart wrenching.

The book was written in 1969, as a propaganda piece, in an effort to boost flagging support for the war effort. It speaks in glowing terms of the bravery and mission of the Vietnamese forces and how they are driving the enemy in to the sea. Allied forces are not mentioned and the U.S. is mentioned only in one sentence. Interesting!

The book is abounding in hope. They still think they can win! For that matter, so did we! It is incredibly sad to read these words knowing what happened and how it all turned out!

Photo from the book; the universal portrait of a soldier reading mail from home.

So, back to my original thought. 

No matter what you think about the war, those who created it, or those who fought it, at some level it was an effort to afford to those who did not have them, the freedom, self-determination, and human rights we so regularly take for granted.

So, as you celebrate this July 4^th, set down your beer and hot dog just long enough to remember all of those who made this day, this country, this Nation possible and who continue to work for its betterment and those who keep us safe.

Here are a few additional shots I merely photographed from the book.

A nun attending an injured child, the most innocent victims of war

This unidentified destruction makes me think of pictures of Hiroshima.

The regular posts, continuing from Utah, will pick up again at 9:00am on the 9th of July. Until then enjoy the holiday and see you on the 9th.

Utah IV

This Dough Boy from WWI stands guard over all those who have joined him over the years in the Price, Utah Peace Garden. Located at 100 E. Main Street the Carbon County Memorial honors those from many wars.

The plaque on one side of the statue names those from WWI through Vietnam who were lost.

One the other side, five more of our brothers are honored, also.

On the way out of town I stopped for gas and met these guys. The human part of the duo told me he is a 'Nam vet from Pennsylvania! They had been traveling the country together for quite some time and if I remember correctly they were on their way to South Dakota. Quite a journey!

Next time, we will visit the Utah Cultural Celebration Center in West Valley City. Here, another example of a memorial built by the Vietnamese community to thank us for our efforts in their country. Join me on the 6th, as ever,at 9:00am to pay tribute to these who are lost.