Friends til the end Community Group
A group for those of us here who get more from our friendships than from the available discussion groups. A place to be accepted and appreciated for who we are. Somewhere to always feel safe and know that especially on the bad days we are here for each other .A place for encouragement and love.
sorry I did not send this yesterday, bur I did not read this until today!!!
Thank you who served and all for remembering.
In honor of our Brothers in Arms, I am passing this on.
Interesting Veterans Statistics from the Vietnam Memorial Wall
SOMETHING to think about ~
Most of the surviving Parents are now Deceased.
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.
Beginning at the apex on panel 1E and going out to the end of the East
wall , appearing to recede into the earth (numbered 70E - May 25,
1968), then resuming at the end of the West wall, as the wall emerges
from the earth (numbered 70W - continuing May 25, 1968) and ending
with a date in 1975. Thus the war's beginning and end meet. The war
is complete, coming full circle, yet broken by the earth that bounds the angle's open side
and contained within the earth itself.
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 once attended Thomas Edison High School in Philadelphia .
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.
Most Americans who read this will only see the numbers that the
Vietnam War created. To those who survived the war, and to the
families of those who did not, they see the faces, they feel the pain that
these numbers created. They are, until they too pass away, haunted with
these numbers, because they were their friends, fathers, husbands,
wives, sons and daughters. There are no noble wars, just noble warriors.
Please pass this on to those who served during this time, and those
who DO care.
"All gave some, and some gave all"......
Don Gunsch
SMSgt USAF Retired
Thank you who served and all for remembering.
In honor of our Brothers in Arms, I am passing this on.
Interesting Veterans Statistics from the Vietnam Memorial Wall
SOMETHING to think about ~
Most of the surviving Parents are now Deceased.
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.
Beginning at the apex on panel 1E and going out to the end of the East
wall , appearing to recede into the earth (numbered 70E - May 25,
1968), then resuming at the end of the West wall, as the wall emerges
from the earth (numbered 70W - continuing May 25, 1968) and ending
with a date in 1975. Thus the war's beginning and end meet. The war
is complete, coming full circle, yet broken by the earth that bounds the angle's open side
and contained within the earth itself.
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 once attended Thomas Edison High School in Philadelphia .
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.
Most Americans who read this will only see the numbers that the
Vietnam War created. To those who survived the war, and to the
families of those who did not, they see the faces, they feel the pain that
these numbers created. They are, until they too pass away, haunted with
these numbers, because they were their friends, fathers, husbands,
wives, sons and daughters. There are no noble wars, just noble warriors.
Please pass this on to those who served during this time, and those
who DO care.
"All gave some, and some gave all"......
Don Gunsch
SMSgt USAF Retired
deleted_user
My oldest brother was in the Vietnam War ...Thank God he came home !
Lesa
Loved this Gene. Our troops coming home from that war did not get the respect they deserved.It is hard to believe it's been 36 years. We owe a huge thank you to all who served there!
deleted_user
Thanks for posting this Gene
DellaBeth
Thanks Gene!
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