Maryland XLI

Berlin is on the eastern shore of Maryland, practically in the Atlantic ocean and not far from the resort town of Ocean City. While visiting the beach area I stopped by to see this memorial right in the middle of town.

 

Located at the intersection of West and Baker Streets it is on prominent display.

Dedicated in 1995 by the Boggs D. Sharoon American Legion Auxiliary Unit 123, it honors a number from several wars.

These eight are listed for eternal honor.

LCPL. Frederick Wood, Jr., Marines, 1967
PFC. Alphonso Lee Harmon, Marines, 1967
SP4. Freddie Marshall, Jr., Army, 1967
PFC. Lewis Morrison Hayward, Army, 1968
SP4. Charles Lilleton Briddell, Army, 1969
SGT. Michael Edward Gordy, Marines, 1969
PFC. Barry Howard Berger, Army, 1971

MAJ. Nutter Jerome Wimbrow, III, Air Force, 1972

 

 In 1970 the population of Berlin was under 2,000. As is so often the case small towns were hit hard by the war.

Next time, on the 18th, we will revisit Michigan. Join me there, as usual, at 9:00 am.

To see additional memorials from Maryland, or any other state, please click on a state name on the left side of this page. Please note that Canada, Ireland, and Puerto Rico have been added to the list of memorial sites.

As is now my custom,  I will ask anyone who has pictures of Vietnam memorials not shown here, to send then to me and I will include them (giving you full credit.) Any number of you have added knowledge and honor to this site by doing just that. It is always appreciated and makes this effort better, more completed. Thanks to those who have contributed and to anyone who will do so now or in the future.

Delaware XXV

I returned to Delaware this week to see something I have not seen before: a memorial specifically to M.I.A.s. I have, of course, seen POW/MIA memorials all around the country, but never before one specifically to MIAs.

A 15 foot tall obelisk honors those from all wars but the names listed are only from Korea and Vietnam. 

 

Those from .Nam:

LEONARD A. BIRD - 1LT U.S. MARINE CORPS
GENE K. HESS - SSGT U.S. AIR FORCE
LARRY F. POTTS - CPT U.S. MARINE CORPS
EDWARD A. WILLING - CPL U.S. MARINE CORPS
JOHN M. MARTIN - LTCOL U.S. AIR FORCE
WILLIAM L. NELLANS - MAJ U.S. AIR FORCE

 

 

It is located in Dover at the corner of Loockerman Street and legislative Avenue near the City Hall.

Next time, on the 16th, we will return to Maryland, so meet me there, as always, at 9:00 am.

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

As is now my custom,  I will ask anyone who has pictures of Vietnam memorials not shown here, to send then to me and I will include them (giving you full credit.) Any number of you have added knowledge and honor to this site by doing just that. It is always appreciated and makes this effort better, more completed. Thanks to those who have contributed and to anyone who will do so now or in the future.

Colorado XL

My last post from Colorado was of the memorial dedicated by the Vietnamese community of Denver. As I explained then it was a very difficult shoot for me. You can review all that here. That being said, I want to try to give you some feeling for the faces, as I so often do, of those who fought and of some who were lost.

These particular likenesses were quite high above the ground so suffer, some, from not being able to capture them straight on.

Anyway, we owe them honor.

 

 

 

The statues are well worn but still...

I wish the circumstances had been better and that I had been able to do them greater justice.

Next time, on the 11th, we will make a return visit to Delaware, so check back to see if I made it and join me there, as always, at 9:00 am.

To see additional memorials from Colorado, or any other state, please click on the state name on the left side of this page. Take note, too, that Ireland, Canada, and Puerto Rico  have been recently added to the list.

Once more I will ask anyone who has pictures of Vietnam memorials not shown here, to send then to me and I will include them (giving you full credit.) Any number of you have added knowledge and honor to this site by doing just that. It is always appreciated and makes this effort better, more completed. Thanks to those who have contributed and to anyone who will do so in the future.

Canada II

 As some of you know, I found myself in Canada last fall. While there I sought out memorials to the brave Canadians who joined our forces in Vietnam. 

134 were lost of the 30,000 who fought at our sides.

I read that there was a memorials in Sydney, Nova Scotia so I managed to get there and after a extremely difficult time completing the last mile or two of my journey, which might be a story for another time, I finally found the memorial.

Except that I can find no indication that it is in fact a memorial to those lost in 'Nam. I was able to learn that Michael Francis Campbell, from Sydney, was lost. I could find no mention of him on this memorial which seems to be solely WWII. I am posting it today in the hopes that someone who can help me straighten this out will contact me.

As I said, I had been assured that this memorial, also, honored Vietnam dead. 

I know from the history of this site that it is read often in Canada, so, help me out as readers have done so often in the past. Tell me the story.

Next time, on the 6th, we will revisit Colorado, so meet me there, as always, at 9:00 am.

To see additional memorials from Canada or any of our 50 states, please click on a state name on the left side of this page. Please note that Canada, Ireland and Puerto Rico have been added to the list.

Once more I will ask anyone who has pictures of Vietnam memorials not shown here, to send then to me and I will include them (giving you full credit.) Any number of you have added knowledge and honor to this site by doing just that. It is always appreciated and makes this effort better, more completed. Thanks to those who have contributed and to anyone who will do so now or in the future.

California XLV

Outside the Offices of Traci Park in Westchester, CA is this memorial to those who served and those lost in 'Nam.

It honors those who served and those who paid the highest price.

25 are honored here with 19 being lost. That feels like an out of proportion loss to me.

I have requested information about what seems to be an astronomical proportion of the lost.

I will update if I find anything.

Next time, April 1, we will take another look at Canada. I found a couple of memorials on a trip there last fall. So, as always, join me there at 9:00 am.

To see additional memorials from California, or any other state, please click a state name on the left side of this page. Please note that Canada, Ireland and Puerto Rico have been added to the list.

Once more I will ask anyone who has pictures of Vietnam memorials not shown here, to send then to me and I will include them (giving you full credit.) Any number of you have added knowledge and honor to this site by doing just that. It is always appreciated and makes this effort better, more completed. Thanks to those who have contributed and to anyone who will do so now or in the future.

Arizona XXXVI

I traveled along the road in San Manuel several time before I realized what I though was just a sign on the side of the road was actually a memorial to those who were lost in 'Nam.

 

Seven young men from the surrounding area gave all in 'Nam and are remembered and honored here.  I have some fears as the gas station seems to be abandoned, so I wonder who will watch over these heroes, although this seems to be in pretty good shape. I hope it remains that way.

I will return to this site to feature the men here in the not too distant future.

San Manuel is located about 45 miles northeast of Tucson and was originally built as a company town for a Copper mining outfit. In 2010 it had a population of 3551.

Next time, on the 27th, we will return to California, so join me there, as usual, at 9:00 am.

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

As always, I will ask anyone who has seen Vietnam memorials that are NOT seen here to please send them to me. I will be more than happy to share your photos and any information you may have about them. Recently Joan from Wisconsin, Tony from Texas, Ron from Florida and a number of others have been kind enough to do this. You make this site better, more complete and I certainly appreciate your input. So, send them to the email on the left od to my personal email: ldddad@comcast.net.

St. Patrick's Day 2024

Today is St. Patrick's Day and I want to honor the many Irish who have stood side by side with us in various conflicts.

Records indicate that nearly 50% percent of The Continental Army were Irish.

In the Mexican American War there was formed The St. Patrick's Brigade (although some who served were European, not necessarily Irish) The Brigade numbered more than 200 in 1846.

Irish have a long history of fighting with the U.S. perhaps most notably at Gettysburg where monuments to Irish units abound. 200,000 Irish participated in the American Civil War: 180 thousand fought for the Union and 20,000 for the Confederacy. 23, 600 or 20% of the Union Navy were Irish.

Many Irish or of Irish descent served in both WWI and WWII.

27 Irish Soldiers and one Irish Marine never returned from Korea.

And, I have written previously of my failed efforts to find a memorial in Ennis, Ireland to the 30* Irish citizens who came, among the 2500 Irish, to fight in Vietnam and were lost. (I have since learned that it has, in fact been built and I hope to get to Ennis in the future to see it.)

*I have just learned from my friend Declan Hughes of Irish Veterans, Kinsale, Co. Cork, Ireland that the actual number has grown to 32. Declan is the man previously mentioned in my post about The Wall coming to Ireland and researching the names of the Irish heroes lost in 'Nam. I wrote a long post about this and you can read it here. Declan has been a wonderful source of information for me as I pursued this topic. Thank you, Declan!

Here are the 30 names of Irish lost on the memorial at Ennis.

Photo used by permission of Irish Vietnam Memorial Project

Photo used by permission of Irish Vietnam Memorial Project

IRISH WHO LOST THEIR LIVES WITH U.S. FORCES VIETNAM

Sgt Patrick Christopher ‘Christy’ Nevin, US Army

L/Cpl Paul Ivan Maher, US Marine Corps

SP4 Timothy Daly, US Army

L/Cpl Bernard Anthony Freyne, US Marine Corps

SP4 Michael Francis Smith, US Army

SP4 John Coyle, US Army

Cpl Patrick ‘Bob’ Gallagher, US Marine Corps

Sgt/FC Edward Michael Howell, US Army

PFC Maurice Joseph O’Callaghan, US Marine Corps

Cpl Terence Patrick FitzGerald, US Army

PFC John Patrick Collopy, US Army

SP4 Edward Anthony Scully, US Army

Capt Edmond J. Landers, US Army

1/Lt Anthony Paul O’Reilly, US Army

Second Lieutenant Pamela Dorothy Donovan, US Army Nurse Corps

Spec. 5 Michael Noel Faherty,

Cpl Philip Sean Bancroft, US Marine Corps

SP4 Brian Francis McCarthy, US Army

Cpl Sean T. Doran, US Army

L/Cpl Peter Mary Nee, US Marine Corps

1/Lt John Cecil Driver, US Army

RD3 Martin S Doherty, US Navy

Sgt Arthur Fisher, US Marine Corps

 

IRISH KILLED SERVING WITH AUSTRALIANS

Rifleman George Nagle, 9th Royal Australian Regiment

Driver/Signalman David G. Doyle, 3 Cavalry Regiment

Sgt Robert Fleming, 1st RAR and 1st Australian Reinforcement Regiment

Sgt Thomas Birnie, 2nd Royal Australian Regiment

 

IRISH IN CANADIAN UNIFORM (MIA)

Sgt. James Sylvester Byrne, Royal Canadian Army Service Corps

 

IRISH WORKING FOR US AID

Michael Murphy, Office of Public Safety, US AID, Advisor to South Vietnamese Police Field Forces

 

IRISH WORKING FOR AIR AMERICA

Patrick Factna McCarthy, Served with the Marines in Vietnam before joining Air America.

 

Here are the two names added since the memorial was completed

 L/Cpl Joseph Aloysius Clancy, US Marine Corps

MSG Patrick Joseph McCabe, US Army 

In addition, approximately 50% of the names on the Wall are of Irish origin!

I found this article on-line written by the Jim Otto, President of The Ancient Order of Hibernians, Division One

 https://www.stlhibernians.com/History2/usmilitary2.html

So as you raise a pint or two to St. Patrick today, remember those Irish who gave their all and raise one to them as well.

Next time, on the 22nd, we will venture back to Arizona, so meet me there, as always, at 9:00 am.

To see additional memorials from Ireland, or any of the 50 states, please click a state name on the left side of this page.

As always, I will ask anyone who has seen Vietnam memorials that are NOT seen here to please send them to me. I will be more than happy to share your photos and any information you may have about them. Recently Joan from Wisconsin, Tony from Texas, Ron from Florida and a number of others have been kind enough to do this. You make this site better, more complete and I certainly appreciate your input. So, send them to the email on the left od to my personal email: ldddad@comcast.net.

Thank you!