MONTANA VIETNAM MEMORIAL WALL
The angel spreads its wings just as it did 25 years ago when the memorial took to this park, and just as a loftier angel may have done four decades back when shielding survivors of the Vietnam War.
While a patina covered the angel’s wings long ago, the flags tucked below, out of the rain, remain fresh and bright, as are the memories of those who served in Vietnam before coming home to forge this monument, remembering the 313 Montanans who died in that war.
On Friday, a handful of Vietnam veterans and supporters gathered in the park, not to reflect on the war but rather to commemorate the 25th anniversary of this monument, the state’s official Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Rose Park.
Like the Vietnam War, building a memorial to the fallen proved to be a battle of its own, requiring backers to separate the politics of the conflict from those who served on their nation’s behalf.
“It was a labor of love, but it was blood, sweat and tears that went into this thing,” said committee member and Vietnam veteran Bob Whaley. “It was nickels and dimes and quarters and dollars and lots of help from people across the state. A few corporations stepped up, but a few that we really thought would help us didn’t.”
For those who served on the committee, including Charlie Brown, the struggles are easily recalled. Jan Scruggs, the man who’s credited for founding the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., once cautioned Brown that many would support his effort, but many others would oppose it, calling it another useless monument to another useless war.
In Montana, Scruggs’ cautions rang true, but Brown and the committee pressed on.
“We weren’t commemorating the war, we were commemorating the people who served,” Brown said. “It had nothing to do with the war and its handling. It was the people who served, and it was a long, hard-fought battle.”
Brown served in Vietnam from 1968 to 1970 as an Army medic for thoracic surgeons. The memories of his tour are still raw. Two of his best childhood friends are remembered on the memorial, Tom Gross and George Rolan Anderson.
So, too, are the memories fresh for Mike Halligan, who served as an infantry platoon leader for the 101st Airborne Division outside Hue City from Thanksgiving Day in 1969 though 1970.
“When I look at the pictures I brought home, everyone is 19 and 20 in that war,” said Halligan. “It was fought by such young people. The memories of serving there – the guys were great, we did what we were told, and we came home to a difficult situation.”
Years later, Halligan ran and was elected as a state legislator, serving from 1981 to 2002. Eleven years after the memorial’s dedication, he joined legislator Dale Mahlum in carrying Senate Bill 352, designating Rose Park as the state’s official Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
Calling the park a sacred site, Halligan noted the various monuments that remember the sacrifice of so many Montanans from so many different wars. It’s a quiet and peaceful place, this park where the roses bloom in spring and people often sit and reflect on loved ones lost.
“It wasn’t political or partisan in any way,” Halligan said of the legislation. “The memorial finally did begin the process of healing those wounds for a lot of veterans. It started to separate us from the politics of the war, and it recognized service over anything political.”
Creating the memorial wasn’t easy, but the work paid off. After the unveiling on Nov. 11, 1988, the monument was chosen as the cover art for “Warriors Remembered: Vietnam Veterans Welcome Home.” Compiled by Albert Nahas, the book documents Vietnam memorials in all 50 states and notes the struggles faced by those who built them.
The recognition was welcome for those like Whaley, who first served in Vietnam in 1962 near the Soc Trang Province on the Mekong Delta, where he flew with one of the first Marine Corps aviation squadrons to enter the country.
By 1965, Whaley was flying Huey gunships and medevacs. On Dec. 6, 1965, while providing cover for a retrograde of Marines coming off the beach, his aircraft was hit by enemy gunfire. A North Vietnamese battalion had slipped into the area undetected.
“They shot our tail rotor off while we were at 1,100 feet,” Whaley said. “We went into a terrible spin. We smashed in real hard. We all broke our backs, but we all survived.”
Jump forward to the 1980s when the memorial committee found itself in disagreement on what design to use. As Brown tells it – and Whaley confirms with a laugh – Whaley stood up at the meeting and noted the angel in one of the two designs.
It was an angel, he said, that pulled him out of Vietnam alive.
“I know (the angel) above pulled my sorry ass out a couple times,” Whaley said. “(Brown) seems to think that cinched the (monument’s) design. The two crashes I had should have been fatal. I don’t know why we survived, but we did.”
Even after all these years, the men who created this monument, and those who gathered again on Friday, remain brothers in arms. They are guys like Jerry Ballas, who served as a combat engineer in Vietnam from 1969 to 1970 and helped design the grounds surrounding the monument.
And guys like Jay Whitcomb, who served as an infantry platoon leader from 1965 to 1966 with the Army’s 1st Division, and Jim McDonald, who lost a childhood friend in Vietnam in 1962, then stepped forward as a needed financial sponsor, even when others refused to do so.
“It was a really tough go for a very long time,” said Larry Keogh, reflecting on the efforts of so many to make the memorial a reality. “It was a tough fundraiser for sure. In 1988, Vietnam still wasn’t too popular, and there wasn’t as much military appreciation as there is now.” Taken from the Missoulian; 10 Nov 2013
While a patina covered the angel’s wings long ago, the flags tucked below, out of the rain, remain fresh and bright, as are the memories of those who served in Vietnam before coming home to forge this monument, remembering the 313 Montanans who died in that war.
On Friday, a handful of Vietnam veterans and supporters gathered in the park, not to reflect on the war but rather to commemorate the 25th anniversary of this monument, the state’s official Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Rose Park.
Like the Vietnam War, building a memorial to the fallen proved to be a battle of its own, requiring backers to separate the politics of the conflict from those who served on their nation’s behalf.
“It was a labor of love, but it was blood, sweat and tears that went into this thing,” said committee member and Vietnam veteran Bob Whaley. “It was nickels and dimes and quarters and dollars and lots of help from people across the state. A few corporations stepped up, but a few that we really thought would help us didn’t.”
For those who served on the committee, including Charlie Brown, the struggles are easily recalled. Jan Scruggs, the man who’s credited for founding the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., once cautioned Brown that many would support his effort, but many others would oppose it, calling it another useless monument to another useless war.
In Montana, Scruggs’ cautions rang true, but Brown and the committee pressed on.
“We weren’t commemorating the war, we were commemorating the people who served,” Brown said. “It had nothing to do with the war and its handling. It was the people who served, and it was a long, hard-fought battle.”
Brown served in Vietnam from 1968 to 1970 as an Army medic for thoracic surgeons. The memories of his tour are still raw. Two of his best childhood friends are remembered on the memorial, Tom Gross and George Rolan Anderson.
So, too, are the memories fresh for Mike Halligan, who served as an infantry platoon leader for the 101st Airborne Division outside Hue City from Thanksgiving Day in 1969 though 1970.
“When I look at the pictures I brought home, everyone is 19 and 20 in that war,” said Halligan. “It was fought by such young people. The memories of serving there – the guys were great, we did what we were told, and we came home to a difficult situation.”
Years later, Halligan ran and was elected as a state legislator, serving from 1981 to 2002. Eleven years after the memorial’s dedication, he joined legislator Dale Mahlum in carrying Senate Bill 352, designating Rose Park as the state’s official Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
Calling the park a sacred site, Halligan noted the various monuments that remember the sacrifice of so many Montanans from so many different wars. It’s a quiet and peaceful place, this park where the roses bloom in spring and people often sit and reflect on loved ones lost.
“It wasn’t political or partisan in any way,” Halligan said of the legislation. “The memorial finally did begin the process of healing those wounds for a lot of veterans. It started to separate us from the politics of the war, and it recognized service over anything political.”
Creating the memorial wasn’t easy, but the work paid off. After the unveiling on Nov. 11, 1988, the monument was chosen as the cover art for “Warriors Remembered: Vietnam Veterans Welcome Home.” Compiled by Albert Nahas, the book documents Vietnam memorials in all 50 states and notes the struggles faced by those who built them.
The recognition was welcome for those like Whaley, who first served in Vietnam in 1962 near the Soc Trang Province on the Mekong Delta, where he flew with one of the first Marine Corps aviation squadrons to enter the country.
By 1965, Whaley was flying Huey gunships and medevacs. On Dec. 6, 1965, while providing cover for a retrograde of Marines coming off the beach, his aircraft was hit by enemy gunfire. A North Vietnamese battalion had slipped into the area undetected.
“They shot our tail rotor off while we were at 1,100 feet,” Whaley said. “We went into a terrible spin. We smashed in real hard. We all broke our backs, but we all survived.”
Jump forward to the 1980s when the memorial committee found itself in disagreement on what design to use. As Brown tells it – and Whaley confirms with a laugh – Whaley stood up at the meeting and noted the angel in one of the two designs.
It was an angel, he said, that pulled him out of Vietnam alive.
“I know (the angel) above pulled my sorry ass out a couple times,” Whaley said. “(Brown) seems to think that cinched the (monument’s) design. The two crashes I had should have been fatal. I don’t know why we survived, but we did.”
Even after all these years, the men who created this monument, and those who gathered again on Friday, remain brothers in arms. They are guys like Jerry Ballas, who served as a combat engineer in Vietnam from 1969 to 1970 and helped design the grounds surrounding the monument.
And guys like Jay Whitcomb, who served as an infantry platoon leader from 1965 to 1966 with the Army’s 1st Division, and Jim McDonald, who lost a childhood friend in Vietnam in 1962, then stepped forward as a needed financial sponsor, even when others refused to do so.
“It was a really tough go for a very long time,” said Larry Keogh, reflecting on the efforts of so many to make the memorial a reality. “It was a tough fundraiser for sure. In 1988, Vietnam still wasn’t too popular, and there wasn’t as much military appreciation as there is now.” Taken from the Missoulian; 10 Nov 2013
The Montana Vietnam Memorial Wall is located in Missoula, Montana, at Rose Park 700 on Brooks Avenue We have included the panel and line numbers so that you can find the veteran more easily. We are so grateful for the service and the great sacrifice rendered.
Last Name Anderson Baker Barnum Benson Best Bristol Cottet Courville Dorris Eckstein Fisher Greiner Harness Incashola Johnson Kleiv Little Mattheisen Nichols Pokerjim Robinson Rollins Street Tallon Utter Westfall Zerbst |
First Name Michael Lester Jack Marvin Wayne Alan Joseph Henning Richard James Jr Clarence Frank Duane Lee Roger Marvin David Walter Rodger Dean William John Gary James Anthony Gene Jean Baptiste Richard Michael Manford Lloyd William Gregory John Charles Phillip Arthur Joseph Louis Timothy Charles Dale Franklin Douglas Gerald Douglas Wayne Keith Edward Richard Earl Gilbert Leroy |
Rank/Branch
LCPL/MC SP4/Army SP4/Army PFC/Army SP4/Army SP4/Army CPL/Army CPL/Army PFC/Army PFC/Army LCPL/MC CPL/Army SP4/Army PFC/Army SP4/Army CWO/Army CPL/MC SP4/Army Capt/Army PVT/Army PFC/MC SFC/Army LCPL/MC SP4/Army CPL/Army PFC/Army PFC/MC |
Casualty 20 Jul 1965 5 Sep 1970 8 Dec 1968 8 Oct 1969 7 Sep 1969 12 Aug 1969 1 Nov 1968 18 May 1969 18Apr 1968 2 Oct 1967 22 Sep 1968 13 May 1969 29 Mar 1969 23 Nov 1966 26 Feb 1969 9 Oct 1964 14 Jan 1970 30 Apr 1968 13 Oct 1970 12 Oct 1967 22 Oct 1969 13 Nov 1968 28 Feb 1967 2 May 1967 14 Jul 1970 17 Dec 1969 7 Apr 1968 |
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City Kalispell Ronan Ronan Coram Kalispell St Ignatius Kalispell Pablo Kalispell Kalispell Arlee Polson Kila St Ignatius Kalispell Whitefish Kalispell Charlo Kalispell St Ignatius Kalispell St Ignatius Whitefish Eureka Eureka Polson St Ignatius |
Panel/Line 02E/040 07W/039 37W/061 17W/049 18W/053 19W/009 40W/073 24W/038 50E/037 27E/038 10E/132 25W/100 28W/087 12E/112 31W/068 01E/066 14W/032 53E/018 07W/133 27E/097 17W/106 39W/062 15E/123 19E/018 08W/019 15W/068 48E/050 |
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