Memorial Day
 

Several towns around here, near Memorial Day, put out a cross with the name of a soldier from the town who was killed during a war along with what war he was killed in. Made a turn coming home tonight and drove a mile with crosses on both sides of the road.Most from WWII, some from Korea and Vietnam.Did OK till I came to a stop next to a cross from Desert Storm.Lost it big time. I remember every day ,just reminded more around this day.Welcome Home ,Thank all for their service .

Thank you for the post Lt, remembering them all...Sis
 

<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=5 width="100%" bgColor=#ffffff><TBODY><TR><TD class=title3 bgColor=#f5f5f5 vAlign=center width="100%" align=left>MOPH Tulsa, OK, Chapter to Lay Forgotten Hero to Rest, May 23, 2009 </TD></TR><TR><TD class=body1 bgColor=#f5f5f5 vAlign=center align=right></TD></TR><TR><TD class=body1 height=1 background=images/bg_29.gif width="100%"></TD></TR><TR><TD class=body1 bgColor=#ffffff><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" bgColor=#cccccc><TBODY><TR><TD><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=10 width="100%" bgColor=#ffffff><TBODY><TR><TD class=body1>http://www.patriotfiles.com/forum/imgcacheA/13357.png Broken Arrow, OK, May 12, 2009 - For Tulsa, Oklahoma, Memorial Day is a very special day of remembrance. As communities all across America assemble to honor their sons and daughters who gave their lives in the defense of their nation, the citizens of Tulsa will assemble along the Avenue of Flags in Floral Haven Cemetery to honor those veterans who died while serving in the Armed Forces.



On May 23, 2009, Tulsa will once again honor those Veterans who rest peacefully among the beautiful, tree lined walks that lead to Floral Haven’s Veteran’s Field of Honor. Those who come may pause at the Medal of Honor Court, where they can read bronze copies of the Congressional Medal of Honor citations of each Oklahoman who received this special decoration.

The Avenue of Flags began in 1972, when a widow brought in her husband's government issued casket flag and asked that Floral Haven fly it over the Memorial Day weekend. Last year there were 2,618 casket flags flying, each with an tag identifying the Veteran, that were donated by the Veterans' families to grace the cemetery’s grounds for this event. This year, 2,749 flags will be flying.

At this particular Memorial Day ceremony, Tulsa will pause to pay tribute to a very special Veteran who was long forgotten. Thanks to the diligent efforts of a member of the Military Order of the Purple Heart, Don Clapsaddle, Chief of Staff for the Department of Oklahoma, Tulsa will honor a lost and forgotten hero.

On February 1, 1968, U.S. Army Specialist Warren A. Nicholls, then only 20 years old and a Light Infantryman assigned to Company A, 1<SUP>st</SUP> Battalion, 27<SUP>th</SUP> Infantry Regiment, 25<SUP>th</SUP> Infantry Division, was gravely wounded and subsequently paralyzed when his Company came under attack by a unit of Viet Cong. In an instant, his Army service came to an abrupt end. After extensive medical treatment, Specialist Nicholls was discharged and returned home to Fort Worth, Texas knowing that he would forever be confined to a wheelchair.

Using his GI Bill benefits, he attended Texas Christian University to get an undergraduate degree but, unable to care for himself, Warren moved back home with his mother, Vivian Nicholls, so that she could help care for him.

Then, on February 26, 1987, Warren Nicholls died, presumably from causes related to his war injuries. His mother had his remains cremated and attempted to have her son buried in Arlington National Cemetery; unfortunately, he apparently was not eligible, and she never had his ashes interred. Soon thereafter Mrs. Nicholls herself died, and she too was cremated. With no known relatives, a neighbor and friend, Mary Medlin, could not afford the expense of a funeral so she placed the ashes of both Vivian and Warren in a foot locker.

Mrs. Medlin also placed Warren’s uniform, boots, some old travel orders and other identification in the foot locker and, on top, she placed Warren’s Purple Heart Medal. Some years later, Mrs. Medlin moved from Fort Worth to Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, bringing the foot locker with her.
In 2008, John Belding, owner of the Hitching Post Antique Store in Broken Arrow, purchased an unopened foot locker in a garage sale for $5.00. Upon opening the trunk the following day, he discovered the ashes of this forgotten GI and those of his mother, some personal effects and Specialist Nicholls’ Purple Heart. Upon finding the Purple Heart, Mr. Belding contacted an old friend and Purple Heart Veteran Don Clapsaddle, to inform him of his find. Without much to go on, Don sought the assistance of the Department of Veteran Affairs to locate Specialist Nicholls’ discharge papers.

Finally, Clapsaddle sought the assistance of another friend, Mark Blankenship, who just happened to be the General Manager of the Floral Haven Cemetery. He proposed that they recognize Patriot Nicholls with a proper military funeral. After hearing Clapsaddle’s story, Blankenship and his Director of Community Relations, Steve Moeller, both insisted that Nicholls should receive more than a simple funeral.


When Specialist Nicholls is finally laid to rest on May 23, 2009, he will have a special place in the Floral Haven Field of Honor. A special monument, in the form of a red granite bench, will be placed at the foot of a giant American Flag that flies 24/7. The ashes of Warren Nicholls will be incorporated within the bench that will bear a bronze plaque identifying this forgotten brother, explaining the reason he was misplaced for 22 years, and forgotten until now.


After this Memorial Day, thanks to Tulsa Chapter 589, Military Order of the Purple Heart and the Floral Haven Cemetery, Specialist Warren Nicholls will nevermore be known as the FORGOTTEN GI.


All Veterans and interested Tulsa residents are encouraged to participate in this special patriotic event. In support of this ceremony, on Friday, members of the Junior ROTC will assist in raising the donated casket flags. Throughout the weekend, members of the Civil Air Patrol Cadets will reenact the Changing of the Guard at a replica of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The Boy Scouts of America have taken on the task of lowering and folding each casket flag on Monday evening to conclude the Memorial Day observance, with more than 1,000 scouts participating in this special program. The U.S. Army Band from Ft. Sill will provide music, and Oklahoma Adjutant General Myles Deering will be the guest speaker for the ceremony.







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LT and all others
 

I will be thinking of you all during the Memorial Day events. Wish we could all be together to have a cold one or two. It's a day I look forward to as it alllows me to reflect on all the folks I've known during my service days - my lost Bud's and school friends who for some reason can't attend. But I know in spirit they are always here - always with me - and always pushing me along. I salute all of them and can't wait until the day I can be with them and give them all a big hug.

Yes I'm a hugger - Memorial its a day that means so much and has cost so much to so many. They are never to be forgotten. Each time I put up my flags or see one I reflect on duty and service rendered. I really miss them.

Thanks to you folks on this site - I can be enlightned by your high spirits and find that you too have souls and scars that have suffered much.

I saw last night a VN special on the Church channel. About a Priest (Father Cappadonna (not sure on the spelling). This Priest was on the "front" line for two tours. Was killed protecting a wounded soldier. What machine gunned in the back -shot 27 times nearly blew his arm off - he threw his body infront of a wounded soldier. The interviews were chilling and the Love they had for that Priest was overwhelming.

It proves again how much we as humans will shed our lives for others during great times of stress. My respects for those who've suffered these torments. I try not to reflect on those days of terror and fear. I've gotten through those visions - but will not forget many who didn't make it back.

This is why Memorial Day means so much to me. Sorry if I brought up any sad days for any of you. But we can't forget - really - I can't.

Love to my Brothers & Sisters - everywhere.

LT I found the Priest Name "Father Capodanno"
 

http://www.catchingthespirit.net/capodanno.htm

He got the MOH. He touched my heart and many in the field Love'd this Priest. I will never forget him and what he did and how he died. The Church may make him a Saint the process has begun.

Wow ,Thanks Boats
 

I Hope they make him a Saint. Been wearing a St.Joan since a week before I got to Vietnam,never been off my neck since. Grunt Padre was quite a man.Only time I saw a chaplain was at Dong Ha after Lam Son 719 doing a memorial service for guys he never knew.I wanted to shoot him. We fought for each other.

“Once each May, amid the quiet hills and rolling lanes and breeze-brushed trees of Arlington National Cemetery, far above the majestic Potomac and the monuments and memorials of our Nation’s Capital just beyond, the graves of America’s military dead are decorated with the beautiful flag that in life these brave souls followed and loved. This scene is repeated across our land and around the world, wherever our defenders rest. Let us hold it our sacred duty and our inestimable privilege on this day to decorate these graves ourselves—with a fervent prayer and a pledge of true allegiance to the cause of liberty, peace, and country for which America’s own have ever served and sacrificed... Our pledge and our prayer this day are those of free men and free women who know that all we hold dear must constantly be built up, fostered, revered and guarded vigilantly from those in every age who seek its destruction. We know, as have our Nation’s defenders down through the years, that there can never be peace without its essential elements of liberty, justice and independence. Those true and only building blocks of peace were the lone and lasting cause and hope and prayer that lighted the way of those whom we honor and remember this Memorial Day. To keep faith with our hallowed dead, let us be sure, and very sure, today and every day of our lives, that we keep their cause, their hope, their prayer, forever our country’s own.” —Ronald Reagan

Boats thank you for your service
 

Fallen Eagles
 

IN REMEMBERANCE OF MY FALLEN BROTHERS OF C COMPANY, 2ND BATTALLION, 502ND PARACHUTE INFANTRY REGIMENT, 101ST AIRBORNE DIVISION. I AM PROUD TO HAVE FOUGHT BESIDE YOU, AND TO HAVE CALLED SOME OF YOU "MY FRIEND."


1. PFC WILLIAM LEON
New York, NY
KIA: 12JUL66- Dak To
Age: 22

2. PFC TOMMY MORALES
Los Angeles, CA
KIA: 8SEP66- Tuy Hoa
Age: 20

3. PFC ALFRED STONEHOUSE
New York, NY
KIA: 10SEP66- Tuy Hoa
Age: 21

4. SGT. CHARLES BLANCO
Philadelphia, PA
KIA: 20SEP66- Tuy Hoa
Age: 25

5. SP/4 HORTON S. COKER, JR.
Seattle, WA
KIA: 17OCT66- Tuy Hoa
Age: 20

6. PFC WILLIAM L. CYR
Missoula, MT
KIA: 8NOV66- Tuy Hoa
Age: 20

7. PFC CARL L. FALCK, JR.
Alder, WA
KIA: 13NOV66- Tuy Hoa
Age: 19

8. PFC JAREL W. AYERS
Lamar, MO
KIA: 31DEC66- Kontum
Age: 21

9. 1ST LT. LARRY D. EARLS
Murfreesboro, TN
KIA: 2JAN67- Kontum
Age: 28

10. PFC WALTER L. GOSHORN
Mifflintown, PA
KIA: 2JAN67- Kontum
Age: 19

11. PFC ELMER L. JUCKETT III
West Palm Beach, FL
KIA: 2JAN67- Kontum
Age: 19

12. PFC WILBUR L. KOHR
Fredricksburg, PA
KIA: 2JAN67- Kontum
Age: 19

13. PFC DENNIS G. NICOLA
Champaign, Il
KIA: 2JAN67- Kontum
Age: 19

14. SP/4 JOHN H. O'BRIEN
Butte Falls, OR
KIA: 2JAN67- Kontum
Age: 21

15. PFC NORMAN W. VINCENT
Duluth, MN
KIA: 2JAN67- Kontum
Age: 19

16. PFC REINALDO DELGADO
New York, NY
KIA: 5JAN67- Kontum
Age: 18

17. PFC ROBERT W. BARTON
Unadilla, NY
KIA: 9JAN67- Kontum
Age: 19

18. PFC CARL KONOPA
Phoenix, AZ
KIA: 13MAY67- Duc Pho
Age: 18

19. SP/4 JOHN C. SILVER
Wadena, MN
KIA: 16MAY67- Duc Pho
Age: 20

20. SP/4 STANLEY M. JAMROZY
Louisville, KY
KIA: 18MAY67- Duc Pho
Age: 20

21. SSGT CRAIG A. McDANIEL
Lake Arrowhead, CA
KIA: 22SEP67- Chu Lai
Age: 21

22. SP/4 GEORGE H. ULRICH
Merrick, NY
KIA: 22SEP67- Chu Lai
Age: 19

23. SFC JAMES B. FIELDS
Tulsa, OK
KIA: 29SEP67- Chu Lai
Age: 29

24. SP/4 GEORGE E. OVERSHINE
Lufkin, TX
KIA: 29SEP67- Chu Lai
Age: 20

25. SGT. WILLIAM E. WILSON
Euclid, OH
KIA: 29SEP67- Chu Lai
Age: 27

Carpenter's Crispy Critters
 

9JUN66
NW of Dak To was a Special Forces camp at a place called Toumorong. It was being besieged by the 24th NVA Regiment. Two battalions [1/327 & 2/502] of the 101st Airborne Division were sent to support them. This was Operation Hawthorne.

C company of the 2/502, commanded by Captain William Carpenter, was inserted on the morning of 9JUN66 to be a blocking force for the 327, which was sweeping in their direction. As Charlie Company was moving up a small hill, the forward platoon radioed Carpenter telling him that they could hear voices down in a small streambed. The platoon leader asked Carpenter if he wanted them to set up the blocking force or go get Charlie. He decided to engage Charlie. Well, it turned to shit for them real quick. They had bit the tail of the 24th NVA Regiment. C company was immediately swarmed and almost overrun. They were spread out and had Charlie right on top of them. They were taking quite a few casualties. At the height of the battle, Carpenter made the decision to call in an airstrike on their position. The nearest planes to them were carrying napalm. The airstrike made the NVA disengage and bought Charlie Company some time. They were able to gather the wounded and setup a better defense perimeter. They kept the NVA at bay until part of the 327 and B company of the 502nd could come re-enforce them.

This battle made the tv news and newspapers back in the States. I remember hearing about it and thinking to myself "Watch me wind up in THAT unit." I landed in Nam on 30JUN66 and sent to the 101st the next day. After processing in and going through P-Training at Phan Rang, I was sent to Dak To to join my new company,......Charlie Company of the 2/502! That was 10JUL66. Two days later I saw my first KIA in my company. On the 15JUL66 we were pulling out of The Highlands headed for Tuy Hoa over on the coast.

The survivors of Toumorong would forever be known as "Carpenter's Crispy Critters." You gotta love grunt humor. As I began to settle into the company and hear the stories from the Crispy Critters, there were alot of mixed feelings about Carpenter's decision. Some of them thought he over reacted [there were troopers killed by the napalm], while others believed that he saved their lives. Like in most battles, it depended on where you were standing and where you were looking. Everybody's experience and perception can be widely different.

Our battalion commander, Hank 'Gunfighter" Emerson, put Carpenter in for the MOH, but was downgraded to a DSC. Our First Sergeant, Walter Sabalouski, was also awarded a DSC and a Silver Star for his actions that day. I stood at attention while General Westmoreland pinned them on both men.


The 2006 Oh Deuce reunion was held in Atlanta, GA. Bill Carpenter couldn't attend.

This letter was read by Hank "Gunfighter" Emerson, to the men of Charlie Comapny, at the Atlanta 2/502 Reunion, especially those who served under Bill Carpenter in 1966.

"To the gallant men of Charlie Company, 2nd Battalion 502d Infantry 1st Brigade, 101st Airborne Division.

I regret that family commitments preclude my joining you for what I know will be a great reunion event. Please extend to those with whom I served in Charlie Company my thanks and appreciation for their unsurpassed performance of duty as members of the Strike Force. While the Battalion Commander saw fit to move me from Charlie Company before I had time to know many of you personally, I'd like each of you to know that there is seldom a day when you are not in my thoughts. After 40 years, I am still in awe of your commitment to each other and your unit, your selflessness, and your stoic professionalism. Your fortitude, perseverance and courage remain unmatched in my experience. For a short period of time, it was my great privilege and honor to serve with you and for that opportunity, I thank you and General Emerson. The respect, admiration and affection I have for each of you has not been dimmed by the years. Finally, I remind you that history is replete with examples of soldiers achieving extra-ordinary results in the absence of officers, but I know of no example where an officer achieved anything without soldiers !! Have a great reunion and hopefully take a few minutes to remember Lt. Baker, PSgt. Hanna, PFC's Murphy and Fordsham, Ellman, Shuyler, Williams and Garcia, who made it possible for the rest of us to return from Tou Morang. And express some gratitude for having had the opportunity to serve with one of the great soldiers in our Army's history, 1st Sgt. Walter J. Sabalauski."

William "Bill" Carpenter.

One of the paratroopers mentioned in the letter that died that day was 21yr. old PFC Joe Ellman. He was from Spokane, WA, and Kath grew up with him. In fact, they dated off and on for years; even after he entered the army. They wrote each other often after he got to VN. She still talks fondly of him. He sounds like a real nice guy. I know I would have liked him.

Another paratrooper to die that day was 19yr. old PFC Bill Barton of Bravo company. They were engaged in the same battle, trying to come to Charlie company's aid. Bill was also from Spokane, WA. He and Joe had joined the Army together along with Kath's brother, Bob. Bob fell behind Joe and Bill in training by a couple of weeks due to an illness. By the time Bob got to the 101st, they were both already dead. Bob was assigned to 2/327. He's never quite recovered from the loss. I have visited both of their gravesites a couple of times with Kath over the years. We never know what Fate has in store for us.

R.I.P. Brother Eagles

Kath and I visited Joe Ellman's and Bill Barton's gravesites today leaving flowers, prayers, and our respect.

Today we not only visited the graves of my 2 friends that Tom had mentioned but we also visited the grave of my friend William Dowd. He was a casualty of friendly fire in 1968. Last year while at his grave site I ran into his sister Sue. I hadn't seen her in 45 years and it was a very emotional reunion. This year I ran into her again at the same spot. She is the only one of her family members remaining. As we parted company today we said that we would meet there again on Memorial Day at 1:00. I wanted her to know that even though her brother is gone he is never forgotten.


Raggedy Ann