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By: Robert Cristo , The Record 09/19/2003




COHOES - As the names of each of the 58,202 soldiers who sacrificed their lives in the Vietnam War were solemnly uttered Thursday, families shed tears for loved ones lost and children were given a sharp dose of reality about the heartbreak caused by warfare.


Robert I. Moore, Jeffrey Perez, Paul W. Quick III, Arlyn Blauwk, John N. Brewer ... The endless stream of lost sons, mothers, daughters, fathers and friends being quietly announced set the somber tone for gatherers searching for names on the traveling Vietnam Wall That Heals at Lansing Park.
The 252-foot black, V-shaped traveling replica of the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C., officially opened to the public for viewing, healing and reflecting Thursday morning and will remain open 24 hours a day until midnight Sunday.
After years of avoiding the painful wounds reopened by visiting the permanent wall in Washington, local Vietnam veteran David Fisher Sr., 55, knew in his heart it was time to come to terms with the loss of so many of his comrades in battle.
"They say this is supposed to start the healing process and that's what I'm here for," said Fisher, who is originally from Cohoes and now lives in Gansevoort. "Being here, seeing all those names definitely conjures up some pretty painful memories and puts things in perspective."
Fisher, who brought his son, David Fisher Jr., and a videocamera to capture the emotional moment, was the crew chief of a U.S. Marines medic van in Vietnam. He searched for the names John C. Hines, Tim Frazier and John Lander (all of Cohoes), as well as Tom Gopp and Ted Lynski, who were from his outfit.
"I probably held a lot of these kids in their last minutes," said Fisher while staring at the names etched on the black reflective panels. "I remember them just about every day. ... That's part of the guarantee I made, to never forget."
Others were too choked up to speak as they pressed their hands on the names of loved ones lost and tried to remember the smiling faces that were swept away in a war that split America wide open.
"There's one boy on here ... I watched him die in Vietnam ... he told me, 'never forget me,' and every day I wake up and remember him and bless him," said Cohoes resident and veteran Jack Coonradt, who was the inspiration behind bringing the wall to the city.
"I don't even know his name, but the memory of that kid will stay with me forever," he added.
For hundreds of students at Abram Lansing Elementary School and members of the Christian Brothers Academy Honor Guard, the experience of witnessing a widow in tears kneeling at her husband's name for more than 40 minutes sent a powerful message about the brutality of war.
Some members of the Honor Guard stood at attention at different parts of the memorial, while a group of about 50 others quietly marched around it, some taking turns reading the names of the dead.
"At first I was just concentrating on getting the names right, but then I started thinking about all the heartbreak caused and the incredible amount of people that died for freedom," said 18-year-old Philip Fasinacci, a senior at the academy. "That's when emotions began rushing through me as I read the names and thought about the past and the Americans dying in conflicts going on today."
Inside and outside of Abram Lansing, which is within about 100 feet of the wall, students were learning lessons about the war while making rubbings of the names and constructing a 3,000-foot strip of tape with dots representing each of the fallen soldiers' names.
"I saw people crying, hugging each other and looking very sad when they read the names of people they knew in high school," said fifth-grader Christina Kelley, 10, of Cohoes. "Before this I never really felt that bad about it. But when I went to see the wall it really hit me, even though nobody I know died in any war."
Throughout the Capital District, 111 soldiers perished in the war, including five who hailed from Cohoes.
The combined efforts of local groups such as the Cohoes Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Tri-County Council of Vietnam Era Veterans, the American Legion E.T. Ruane Post 476, former Cohoes Chamber of Commerce president Mike Brooks and the Veterans of Lansingburgh helped raise the $10,000 needed to make Coonradt's vision a reality.
The concept of building a moving wall grew out of discussions held by a group of veterans from California in the early '80s. Since its completion in 1984, the wall has visited hundreds of cities, towns and villages throughout the country.

?The Record 2003


...I went yesterday to again pay my respects to the men, and women that gave their ultimate sacrifice to our Nation, I went to visit with my wife's cousin, Harold R. Simonds,, panel 25 w line 51,...

...Harold grew up in Gloverville Ny, name as it sounds represents just what it says, it was a town that manufactured gloves for the whole world, but not anymore does it hold that title,...

...Harold is a Marine that was in Quang Nam in 69 and his cause of death was by "Misadventure", possibly the worst from a parent's point of view, I have met his brother a few times, and the pale stare signifies the long embeded pain,...

...but through the darkness comes a light of hope, My bro in law, and his wife have kept Harold's memory alive as they went to the Ukraine, and adopted a young boy and has brought him to America to live in freedom, He is called Riley which is Harold's middle name, and I believe his proper name is now Harold Riley Simonds Bender, unuasual as it may be for a boy to have more then the traditional first, middle, and last, his title of namesake shall forever carry the light of freedom upon sacrifice by one of America's finest...

...I want you all to reflect on memories of purpose, the memories of why, and what has been done to preserve the heritage of this Nation,...

...We all have given our all in continuing this quest to rid the world of it's evil, and must realize that it must be completly stopped by all means nesc,..

...Harold, "You are not forgotten", nor will your valor,...

..."Welcome Home"...

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