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.......

 


8 comments:

  1. I have in country friends listed on the wall also. Never to be forgotten.

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    1. Barney.....Thanks for stopping by...The Nation owes you a Huge Thank-You...you where there...Take care my Friend...Horst sends

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  2. Horst, thanks for sharing. Much is owed to all that have served.

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    1. Thanks for taking the time to stop by....we must have ESP..I was thinking of you this past weekend, went to your site and re-read your "2012 undefined Schedule Tour"...it brought make some "GREAT" memories....Hope things are going well...are you going on any trips this year...I hope to start an Adventure in July....looking at north and southwest...we'll see how that shakes out... Give me a call when you get a moment...take care my Friend...Horst sends

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  3. Remembering that era.....the grief, the outrage, the hopelessness.....always a part of us...even as we enter "old age".

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    1. Yes it was, as they said , it was "The Best of Times and the Worst of Times"....yet as you said it is part of us and there are some "keeper" memories....Hope all is going well with you Guys...I hope to be able to Launch a trip the end of June, or early July...I am READY.. :) Take care...Horst sends

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  4. Thanks for the post, my friend. Though I was blessed to never see Vietnam, personally, I served during that time. A very heart warming; and heart breaking, post.

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    1. Thanks for your words......it was an era most of us will never forget....You are having quite an AWESOME Journey...I'm really enjoying tagging along...reading your posts are like Saturday morning at the movies in the old days, when we use to get the 10 minute serial and had to come back next Saturday to see what happened to "Red Ryder or Tom Mix"... :)) ...and your Photography is Top-Notch!!!!...Thanks for sharing...Safe Journey my Friend....Horst sends

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