

Updating in the next few weeks 22 July 2015

Interesting Facts about the Memorial and the Veterans on the Wall

Vietnam Veterans Memorial



Families

Youngest, Oldest

Groups

Nationalities

Names

Embassy Saigon

Notables

First Casualties

Last Casualties

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For clarification:

The war-zone is also referred to as "in country". Due to the date changes, names added to the Wall have increased to match the time frame. (This will be explained in the IDENTIFICATION section.)

For your information:

February 28, 1961, commences the time frame for a “Vietnam Era Veteran” who served within the war-zone.

August 5, 1964, designates a “Vietnam Era Veteran” who served in the timeframe, but outside of the war-zone boundaries.

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Update after the first of the Year (under construction)

Confirmed Location Unconfirmed Location Stanley H. Barrett 7W, 109 Charles Tank 26W, 012 Stephen Barrett 35E, 029 Phillip Tank 44W, 042 Jan Gillham 36E, 072 Richard Gillham 35W, 065 Bennett James Herrick 46E, 017 Dennis Haldane Herrick 8W, 110 Sylvester McFarland 39E, 072 Tommie McFarland 6E, 025 Kenny Olenzuk 32E, 059 Paul Olenzuk 49W, 043

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Confirmed Location Unconfirmed Location Richard Fitzgibbon Jr 52E, 021 Bert Jenkins 26W, 072 Richard Fitzgibbon III 1E, 033 Fred Jenkins 39E, 072 Leo Hester Jr 16W, 019 Leo Hester Sr 16E, 052

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Women did not serve in the same military capacity as they do now. There were approximately 7,484 female nurses who served in Vietnam, which was the only military assignment that they were allowed to participate. Since there were only 8 female nurses who died, the information on the nurses is featured in greater detail.







ALEXANDER, Eleanor Grace (Captain, New Jersey): Eleanor worked with Hedwig Diane Orlowski in a hospital in Pleiku. They were aboard the same plane along with two other nurses, Jerome E. Olmsted (31E, 015) and Kenneth R. Shoemaker (31E, 017), when the plane crashed on the return trip to Qui Nhon, November 30, 1967. She was with d the 85th Evacuation (31E, 008).

DONOVAN, Pamela Dorothy (2nd Lieutenant, Massachusetts): Pamela died of a rare Southeast Asian virus on July 8, 1968. She was with the 85th Evacuation in Qui Nhon. (53W, 043)

DRAZBA, Carol Ann (2nd Lieutenant, Pennsylvania): Carol was killed in a helicopter crash near Saigon on February 18, 1966, along with Elizabeth Ann Jones. She was with the 51st Field Hospital. (5E, 046).

GRAHAM, Annie Ruth (Chief Nurse, North Carolina): Annie suffered a stroke on August 14, 1969. She was with the 91st Evacuation in Tuy Hoa. (48W, 012)

JONES, Elizabeth Ann (2nd Lieutenant, South Carolina): Elizabeth was killed in the same helicopter crash as Carol Drazba, near Saigon on February 18, 1966. She was with the 51st Field Hospital. (5E, 047).

KLINKER, Mary Therese (Captain, Indiana): On April 9, 1975, Mary was part of the on-board medical team, a flight nurse assigned to Clark Air Base in the Philippines. She was only 27. Mary was posthumously awarded the Airman's Medal for Heroism and the Meritorious Service Medal.carrying 243 Vietnamese children and infants. Once airborne, the flight developed pressure problems and crashed on the return to the airport. It occurred 3 weeks before the fall of Saigon. (1W, 122)

LANE, Sharon Ann (1st Lieutenant, Ohio): Sharon was in-country less than 10 weeks when she was killed by rocket explosion on June 8, 1969. She was with the 312th Evacuation at Chu Lai. (23W, 112)

ORLOWSKI, Hedwig Diane (1st Lieutenant, Michigan): Hedwig was working with Eleanor Alexander in the same hospital in Pleiku. She was aboard the same plane along with two other nurses, Jerome E. Olmsted (31E, 015) and Kenneth R. Shoemaker (31E, 017), when it crashed on the return trip to Qui Nhon, November 30, 1967. She was with the 67th Evacuation. (31E, 015)

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Jerome E. Olmsted, 1st Lt, Army was born on May 15, 1943. His Home of Record was Clintonville, WI. Jerome was a 3445 = NURSE ANESTHETIST with the 85TH EVAC HOSP, 55TH MED GRP, 44TH MED BDE, USARV.







Kenneth R Shoemaker, Jr, was a 1st Lt, Army born on April 2, 1941. His home of record was Owensboro, KY. Kenneth was also a 3445 = NURSE ANESTHETIST with the 67TH EVAC HOSP, 55TH MED GRP, 44TH MED BDE, USARV.



Along with Hedwig Diane Orlowski, 1st Lt and Eleanor Grace Alexander, Captain working in the hospital in Pleiju, on November 30, 1967, BINH DINH PROVINCE, SOUTH VIETNAM therir plane went down with these four nurses. They were on a return trip to Qui Nhon.





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Chaplain Rank Service Casualty Religion Panel Line MOH* Barragy, William J. Major Army 05/04/66 Catholic 7E 022 Bartley, Don L. LtCol Army 06/08/69 Protestant 23W 109 Brett, Robert R. Lt Navy 02/22/68 Catholic 40E 058 Brown, Merle D. Capt Army 04/11/71 Protestant 4W 118 Capodanno, Vincent R. Lt Navy 09/04/67 Catholic 25E 095 Yes Engel, Meir LtCol Army 12/16/64 Jewish 1E 077 Feaster, William N. Capt Army 10/26/66 Protestant 11E 109 Garrity, William J. LCdr Navy 10/26/66 Catholic 11E 110 Grandea, Ambrosia S. Major Army 06/13/67 Protestant 21E 097 Heinz, Roger W. Major Army 12/09/69 Protestant 15W 042 Johnson, James J. L. Capt Army 03/10/67 Protestant 16E 053 McGonigal, Aloysius P. Major Army 02/17/68 Catholic 39E 075 Nichols, Philip A. Capt Army 10/13/70 Protestant 7W 133 Quealy, Michael J. Capt Army 11/08/66 Catholic 12E 043 Singer, Morton H. Capt Army 12/17/69 Jewish 36W 037 Watters, Charles J. Major Army 11/19/67 Catholic 30E 036 Yes

MOH* Received the Medal of Honor

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Last veteran to die in Southeast Asia

Benedett, Daniel A. 1W, 129 Blessing, Lynn 1W, 129 Boyd, Walter 1W, 132 Copehaver, Gregory S. 1W, 130 Garcia, Andres 1W, 132 Gause, Benard Jr 1W, 130 Jacques, James J. 1W, 131 Loney Ashton N. 1W, 131 Manning, Ronald J. 1W, 131 Marshall, Danny G. 1W, 131 Rivenburgh Richard W. 1W, 132 Rumbaugh, Elwood E. 1W, 132 Sandoval, Antonio R. 1W, 129 Turner, Kelton 1W, 130 Vandegeer, Richard 1W, 132

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Bond, William R. BGeneral, Army 12W, 065 Casey, George W. MGeneral, Army 9W, 126 Crumm, William J. MGeneral, Air Force 23E, 023 Dillard, John A. Jr. MGeneral, Army 10W, 023 Girard, Charles J. BGeneral, Army 14W, 040 Hochmuth, Bruno A. MGeneral, USMC 29E, 095 Moody, Alfred J. BGeneral, Army 16E, 113 Robinson, Rembrandt C. RAmiral, Navy 1W, 015 Tallman, Richard J. BGeneral, Army 1W, 055 Ware, Keith L. MGeneral, Army 44W, 055 Worley, Robert F. MGeneral, Air Force 51W, 0475

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Although there were only 56 Canadians on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, actually there were 110 Canadian casualties who are recognized on various Canadian memorials. But (see I told you there was a but) the remaining 54 Canadian veterans had American city home of records and were not Americans.



The state breakdowns are as follows:



New York (10), Michigan (7), California (6), Massachuttes (6),

Civilians (4), Illiniois (2), Maine (2), North Dakota (2), Ohio (2), Pennsylvania (2),

Connecticutt (1), Indiana (1), Maryland (1), New Hampshire (1), New Jersey (1),

Nova Scotia (1), Texas (1), Utah (1), Vermout (1), Virginia (1), Washington (1)



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Australia Bahama Islands Bolivia Brazil Canada Colombia Costa Rica England France Germany Ireland Italy Jamaica Japan Mexico New Zealand Pacific Island * Panama Peru Philippines Rio Piedras * Switzerland

Country * Home of Record is exact as veteran recorded on his DD-214 (military record).

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Name Quanity Johnson 524 Williams 432 Brown 413 Jones 346 Davis 306 Miller 283 Martin 262 Wilson 210 Moore 208 White 205 Taylor 201 Thomas 191 Green 189 Jackson 177 Clark 173

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Name Year Place Everett D. Reese 1955 Vietnam Dolph B. Owens 1960 Vietnam Barbara A. Robbins 1965 Saigon Joseph W. Grainger 1965 Vietnam Jack J. Wells 1965 Vietnam Norman L. Clowers 1966 Vietnam William D. Smith III 1966 Vietnam Don M. Sjostrom 1967 Laos John R. McLean 1967 Laos Robert K. Franzblau 1967 Vietnam Dwight Hall Owen Jr 1967 Vietnam Carroll H. Pender 1967 Vietnam Thomas W. Ragsdale 1967 Vietnam Donald V. Freeman 1967 Vietnam Frederick J. Abramson 1968 Vietnam Thomas M. Gompertz 1968 Vietnam John T. McCarthy 1968 Vietnam Kermit J. Krause 1968 Vietnam Jeffred S. Lundstedt 1968 Vietnam Robert R. Little 1968 Vietnam Stephen H. Miller 1968 Vietnam Steven A. Haukness 1968 Vietnam Hugh C. Lobit 1968 Vietnam Richard A. Schenk 1968 Vietnam lbert A. Farkas 1968 Vietnam Robert W. Brown Jr. 1968 Vietnam Robert W. Hubbard 1968 Vietnam Michael Murphy 1968 Vietnam George B. Gaines 1969 Vietnam Joseph B. Smith 1970 Vietnam Charles W. Turberville 1971 Cambodia Rudolph Kaiser 1972 Vietnam John Paul Vann 1972 Vietnam Charles McMahon 1975 Vietnam Darwin L. Judge 1975 Vietnam Thomas Olmstead 1975 Cambodia

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Movie Trivia Fact: At end of the movie, Mel Gibson portraying Col Moore is at the Wall and touches a name. We presume that he did some research on the names of fallen warriors in the La Drang Valley because he touches the name PFC David James Carnevale who indeed did die on November 15, 1965, and is on 3 E, line 53.

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Chester is also on panel 7E. Chester A. Ovnand's (7E, 046 - correct spelling) name was originally spelled incorrectly during the engraving process (see 1E, 001) and later was re-engraved correctly (see DISCREPANCIES). Both entries for Chester are on the memorial (as indicated).

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"Dad's role in the history of the Vietnam War has always been murky, beginning with the fact that his team's mssion to train Vietnamese Special Forces was classified at the Top Secret level in 1957. Their training site near Nha Trang was chosen partly because it was far from the eyes (and loose lips) of American embassy and military staff in Saigon. The "cover story" was that they were training Ranger troops to conduct anti-guerrilla warfare against the Viet Cong (Viet Minh, as they were then called). In reality, the US Special Forces believed that Diem's government was doomed to fail, and the Vietnamese students they were training were the cadre of what would be a "counter-revolution" after the Viet Minh conquered South Vietnam.

Dad was killed while leading his Vietnamese Special Forces candidates on what was supposed to be a training patrol in the hills about 10 miles southwest of Nha Trang. A sudden explosion at dusk on 21 October killed him and his interpreter, and severely wounded an American sergeant. Dad's death was near-instantaneous from massive head trauma, but the team was desperate to medevac SSG Lester Ruper, who lost most of his right arm. There was no long-range communication to Saigon, so one of the team members had to go to a freighter in Nha Trang harbor and radio Saigon for help. The first ircraft to arrive that night did not have the range to reach the Philippines, and it was leaking oil badly. So instead it carried SSG Ruper and my father's body to Saigon, where they were transferred to a C-54 for the flight to Clark Field. In the meantime a terrorist bomb had exploded at the MAAG barracks in Saigon, so they were joined by about 15 more American casualties before the flight finally took off on 22 October.

The Army was quick to announce that Dad was killed by an "accidental" explosion and close the subject. That's understandable in the context of 1957, as they did not want a lot of inquiries as to why an American Special Forces team was in Vietnam, and especially the question of "what were they doing there?" The surviving team medic, Chalmers Archer, has stated in recent years that they were actuallky ambushed by the Viet Cong, who had been "casing" the American team for weeks. Although I find some discrepancies in Archer's story, it makes sense in the context that the Viet Cong staged a deliberate attack on American MAAG staff officers the next morning in Saigon. Another eyewitness told a darker and sadder story. He relates that the team was forced by MAAG to use old and deteriorated explosives, over the strident objections of my father and his demolitions sergeant. This witness believes that the team's own explosives went off prematurely, and that MAAG wanted to sweep the incident under the rug in order to conceal their culpability in causing the fatal accident. We may never know the truth.

In any event, Dad died in Vietnam leading a Special Forces patrol in the field. Our family accepted that sad fact and got on with our lives. Unfortunately the controversy won't go away. When the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was first built, Dad's name was omitted because the VVMF was unaware of his loss, and the Army certainly didn't volunteer the information. After I produced the necessary records, the VVMF at first refused to add his name because "he died in an accident". (Even if you accept Dad's death as accidental, about 11,000 of the names on the Wall died as the result of accidents...so that was no premise to exclude him from the Wall). I believe the VVMF was embarrassed by the fact that the Wall was prominently engraved with "1959", and they simply didn't know how to proceed. (Even worse, Sergeant Ovnand's name was misspelled and had to be repeated elsewhere on the Wall). In 1983 the VVMF added Dad's name on Line 78, but went to great lengths to assertn that the two unfortunate soldiers (Major Buis and Sergeant Ovnand) who were killed while watching a movie in 1959 were the first "real" casualties, while my Dad's death on patrol in the jungle was an "accident". It only got murkier when the family of Air Force Sergeant Fitzgibbons, who was murdered in Saigon in 1956 by one of his own crew, successfully lobbied to have his name added to the memorial."Harry G. Cramer III, LTC, US Army (Ret)

Please note: I am including the entire message for several reasons but the first to ensure Harry G. Cramer's legacy is reflected accurately. One of the main reasons I started this website was to prove there were too many secrets and we owe our veterans on the memorial to be honored but honored truthfully. Mistakes are made yes, but why are they still being swept under the marble. Adding a name to the memorial is difficult but no one's life should be misrepresented. I wanted my site to be the "truth" and I wanted visitors to my site and "the wall" to remember it is just not a name engraved but it is the real life of a veteran. Sharon





These are a few websites Harry G. Cramer, Jr:

www.west-point.org/users/usma1946/15816/

www.groups.sfahq.com/1st/45_years_apart.htm

www.army.mil/-news/2007/10/22/5692-army-marks-50-years-since-first-vietnam-casualty/



Robert John Welch, F-4 pilot, US Air Force, 11th Tactical Recon Squadron, Udorn Airfield, Thailand, from Detroit, MI, went MIA on 16 January 1967, in NVN. On January 16, 1967, an unarmed Air Force RF4C Phantom aircraft flown by Capt. Robert J. Welch departed Udorn Airfield for a photo reconnaissance mission over North Vietnam near Hanoi. Welch's navigator was 1Lt. Michael S. Kerr but their aircraft was shot down northwest of Hanoi. Apparently their plane was fired upon but it did not make a direct hit. Kerr ejected but did not witness what Welch was doing so he did not know if he bailed out, nor did he know if the plane crash he witnessed also took down his friend. Robert's wall location is 14E, line 41.

Although Robert Welch had nothing to do with the circumstances of Harry Cramer, I am highlighting him because of his daughter, Susan. Harry G. Cramer III and Robert's daughter, Susan recorded a very moving song about their fathers (and other veterans on the Wall and written by songwriter, Joel Mabus.

Please listen to Touch A Name. (Permission was authorized for me to play this tribute on July 10, 2009).

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- It is often asked how many Native Americans are listed on the memorial?

- Who is the most requested Native American name?

- How many Native Americans are still considered POW/MIAs?

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