The Vietnam Wall

“Carved on these walls is the story of America, of a continuing quest to preserve both democracy and decency, and to protect a national treasure that we call the American dream.”

Something to think about: Most of the surviving parents of the dead are now deceased themselves.

There are 58,267 names now listed on that polished black wall, including those added in 2010.

The names are arranged in the order in which they were taken from us by date and within each date the names are alphabetized. It is hard to believe it is 36 years since the last casualties.

The first known casualty was Richard B. Fitzgibbon, of North Weymouth, MA, listed by the U.S. Department of Defense as having been killed on June 8, 1956. His name is listed on the Wall with that of his son, Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Richard B. Fitzgibbon III, who was killed on Sept. 7, 1965.

There are three sets of fathers and sons on the Wall.

39,996 on the Wall were just 22 or younger.

The largest age group, 8,283 were just 19 years old

3,103 were 18 years old.

12 soldiers on the Wall were 17 years old.

5 soldiers on the Wall were 16 years old.

One soldier, PFC Dan Bullock was 15 years old.

997 soldiers were killed on their first day in Vietnam.

1,448 soldiers were killed on their last scheduled day in Vietnam.

31 sets of brothers are on the Wall.

Thirty one sets of parents lost two of their sons.

54 soldiers on the Wall attended Thomas Edison High School in Philadelphia. Wonder why so many from one school?

8 Women are on the Wall – nursing the wounded.

244 soldiers were awarded the Medal of Honor during the Vietnam War; 153 of them are on the Wall.

Beallsville, Ohio with a population of 475 lost 6 of her sons.

West Virginia had the highest casualty rate per capita in the nation. There are 711 West Virginians on the Wall.

The Marines of Morenci – They led some of the scrappiest high school football and basketball teams that the little Arizona copper town of Morenci (pop. 5,058) had ever known and cheered. They enjoyed roaring beer busts. In quieter moments, they rode horses along the Coronado Trail, stalked deer in the Apache National Forest. And in the patriotic camaraderie typical of Morenci’s mining families, the nine graduates of Morenci High enlisted as a group in the Marine Corps. Their service began on Independence Day, 1966. Only 3 returned home.

The Buddies of Midvale – LeRoy Tafoya, Jimmy Martinez, Tom Gonzales were all boyhood friends and lived on three consecutive streets in Midvale, Utah on Fifth, Sixth and Seventh avenues. They lived only a few yards apart. They played ball at the adjacent sandlot ball field. And they all went to Vietnam. In a span of 16 dark days in late 1967, all three would be killed. LeRoy was killed on Wednesday, Nov. 22, the fourth anniversary of John F. Kennedy’s assassination.. Jimmy died less than 24 hours later on Thanksgiving Day. Tom was shot dead assaulting the enemy on Dec. 7, Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day.

The most casualty deaths for a single day was on January 31, 1968 – 245 deaths.

The most casualty deaths for a single month: May 1968 – 2,415 casualties incurred.

For many Americans who read this they will only see the numbers that the Vietnam War created. To those of us who survived the war, and to the families of those who did not, we see the faces, we feel the pain that these numbers created. We are, until we too pass away, haunted with these numbers, because they were our friends, fathers, husbands, wife’s, sons
and daughters.

There are no noble wars, just noble warriors.

We at the Post 212 want to be sure that the members get as much information regarding the November 11 events including the Mt. Baker Show. Could you send us the information you have so that I can post it our newsletter. This would include the Applebee’s dinner for veterans, veterans honored, bonus cards, etc.(list of activities). The more the information the better..

Steve and I respect your comments regarding the problems created by having a political figure like Larsen come and talk. We are going to get other sources and information, create a packet of phone numbers/emails/addresses of key contacts for veterans/veterans families/friends who attend this event at the Ferndale Event Center. Ken Richardson gave good insight. We are going to try to reach Liz Witkowsky at the Veterans Advisory Meeting next week @ 1000 for her take on the event. But we will leave the politics out of it. People are tired of it anyway!

Is there any information regarding the September event where the POWs/MIAs will be remembered?

Jerry Hulbert
Post 212

Ana Burnes, the Community Relations Director for Merrill Gardens here in Bellingham, has kindly extend an invitation to our organization for their upcoming USO event.

Please see the attached flyer. We hope to see you there!

The very first thing to note is that we are scheduled to have our June monthly meeting this coming Tues, 6/7/2011 with dinner starting at 6 (1800) followed by our meeting at 7 (1900). Dinner will be from what we have left from our BBQ picnic on Memorial Day. For those who missed it — it was great and you can still enjoy the fruits of Kenny Payne’s and Co. labors from the BBQ.

This meeting will be important to attend since we have a major car show we are hosting for the first time in our Chapter’s history —- see the attached!!!!! Tom Modica and Dale Boe are spearheading the project — but they will need some help. That’s one of the reasons we need to have all hands on deck to assist where needed —- particularly since we are not having a meeting in July because the first Tue of the month is the day after the 4th of July and it was felt attendance may be lacking as a result. However, those assisting Tom and Dale will most likely get together before the Car Show’s July 24th date. So please come next Tues. to our meeting.

This note is long over due — but I want to acknowledge several things that occurred last month that need recognition.
Appreciate the effort Sears Taylor brought to the table in organizing and evaluating the scholarship recipients who were awarded their respective scholarships at the last meeting. He presented a good format for future evaluations.

The Coffee/Rest Stop weekend (5/20 – 5/22) was moderately successful — brought in $500. But what’s more important was those of you from the Chapter who volunteered their time to stand the 4 hour “watches” to provide comfort to those people passing through and collecting the donations you did. A list of those who participated is attached and I thank you all who helped out. We’ll be discussing future events like this but will need more volunteer participation.

One particular note of recognition on the Coffee Stop was a volunteer who came to us from the American Legion in Sedro Woolley, Loren O’Neal. We were in a bind to get the 10-2 and 2-6 night shift covered and Loren stepped up to fill the gap. Thank you Loren and to you Gerald Hulpert who talked to Loren about our blight.

The Memorial Day Service and Picnic was a great success. Thanks goes to Ron Hewitt who organized the service and to Kenny Payne who handled the BBQ with the help of Mike Nymeon, Dale Boe, Mike Novotney and several others I may be leaving out — sorry. Also, thanks to Gary Lysne for the stage / podium setup for the service. Last and not least of all our famous pinch – hitter, Randy Elmore, who provided the missing flag carrier for our color guard, the wreath bearer for the serviceman who didn’t show up and for all he did in setting up the chairs for the service. Thank you all who helped and enjoyed the time with fellow vets and family.
Once again, open up the attached file related to our Car Show — we’ll have posters at the meeting to have plastered where appropriate to notify the community about our event. Then be sure to be at our next meeting to review plans for the rest of the summer.

Bill Bowen
President VVA 165