Monday, May 26, 2014

Memorial Day...To Remember and Honor the Fallen

Just wanted to share this, since I am a Vet of that era and have Friends That are listed on The Wall ....For me it is like no other place I've been......Horst sends
 
THE WALL 
 
Interesting Veterans Statistics off the Vietnam Memorial Wall
 
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 , Mass. 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.
 
 
 
8,283 were just 19 years old.
 
The largest age group, 33,103 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 day in Vietnam ..
 
 
 
31 sets of brothers are on the Wall.
 
 
 
Thirty one sets of parents lost two of their sons.
 
 
 
54 soldiers attended Thomas Edison High School in Philadelphia . I 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 was May 1968 - 2,415 casualties were incurred.
 
 
 
 
 There are no noble wars, just noble warriors.......

 


Friday, May 16, 2014

All is Not Lost....San Antonio Missions Give me a Happy Face

 When I last posted the Easter Bunny was out and about trying to find places to hide those decorated Eggs and Such....
Mission Espada..(c)HorstkellyPhotographer

....and what GREAT Adventures have I been on since then....Bluebonnets in the Hill Country...Nope....Hiking at Big Bend...I think Not.....Fishing or Golfing at the Coast with Barney(OFM)...I can only Wish...or was it Star Gazing at Davis Mountain.....Not even close.....But Then....a Journey comes up....Yippie Ki Ya...off to Kansas City and then Charleston SC....well its not with the camper, but it is an adventure...especially the trip to Charleston....I am smiling...I look at Routes...places of interest...things to discover and of course timeframes....The "Adventure Gods" are looking out for me...

We leave 4 May for KC to Arrive 5 May....all went well...no storms or such...get there to prepare for Grandsons graduation the coming Saturday and Open House party on Sunday....then leave for Charleston and SIL's Retirement ......

all is going according to schedule....we plan on doing a Brisket and Pork Butt for the Sunday open House....the week goes without any problems ...FIL is getting around ok...he'll be 90 this year....I only wish.....never mind,,,
Mission San Juan (c)HorstKellyPhotographer
Mission San Juan (c)HorstKellyPhotographer 

Mission San Jose(c)HorstKellyPhotographer
Saturday we go to the Graduation...storms are coming in, we cross our fingers....it works ...it flies by North of us....great event...even for a "Catholic  Graduation"..I'm Lutheran...and always remind them...haha
Mission San Jose(c)HorstKellyPhotographer

Its 2am(Sunday) and we're up starting the Pork Butt and Brisket...tell the Bride I can handle it and that she can go get her "Beauty Sleep"...not a smart thing to say.....woe is me...By the time morning comes my ankle, feet and hands are swollen....they have been getting that way since getting here....but this is getting to a level I don't want to deal with...I make a decision....we are going back to Texas after we get the Food over to the party.....call my Daughter/SIL in Charleston  and tell them what's happening and that I don't want to stress them out with a ER visit on the way or at Charleston...they understand, we leave Sunday afternoon and get home Monday...we did run from a storm that hit Big Time in  Texas...and we also saw that a storm was heading East...so we my not have been able to go to Charleston anyway....oh well..I've made an appt....and sometime in June we will make the Charleston trip...
Rose Window (c)HorstKellyPhotgrapher

So here I was, getting down on missing out on some good times...decided to do a day tour of three of the San Antonio Missions....it pumped me up....so I leave you with a smile and some photo's.....until next time, Horst sends