On Tuesday, September 22, in conjunction with the Veterans at Heath Village, who we have been meeting with once a month and with the help of Jim Taylor, a resident at the Village, went on a trip to the NJ Vietnam Memorial. Heath Village provided the transportation to and from along with a box lunch.
The Huey is synonomous with the Vietnam War and it is a Bell-HU-1D Huey which served two tours in Vietnam and was restored by many Vietnam Veteran volunteers and was dedicated in 2014. It is preserved to remember our legacy as it was our lifeline for just about everything we did while in Vietnam. You ask any Vietnam Veteran about what they remember about Vietnam, and the first thing they will say will be the heat, the smell, but the very best thing was the sound of the Huey. It has an extremely unique wonk-wonk sound that to this day every one of us stops what we are doing and knows exactly what it coming and its location. We lost approximately 4,000 Hueys in Vietnam along with many of their crew members. They were by far the bravest people I ever met and some of them were only twenty years old.
The sculpture designed by Thomas J. Warren, and it’s probably the most emotional and somewhat difficult part of our tour as Vietnam Veterans. The soldier laying on the ground is white and he has very little chance of survival. The nurse tending to him is Hispanic, and the soldier standing is Black. There are various different meanings for the interpretation of the sculpture but the tour guides stress to all that it represents all races and genders, and we all totally supported each other as brothers and sisters.
I am standing in front of one of the 366 black granite panels that depict the names and dates of death of the men and women who were killed in the Vietnam War from the state of New Jersey. You notice the date as Killed In Action on September 6, 1966. I was pointing out that that name, Stanley D. Pfrommer, was a 1962 graduate of West Morris High School. He was from Budd Lake and went to West Morris prior to it becoming a central high school. We proceeded to go to the November 9, 1967 panel which is for Larry Maysey MIA in Laos, a 1965 graduate of West Morris Central. We then went to panel November 16, 1967 for John Lance Lindaberry, the only military person from Washington Township that was killed in Vietnam. As you can tell by the picture, the black granite panels are reflective and we Vietnam Vets always say that the names on the Wall are telling us to always teach and remember their legacy and never forget.
The group picture. It was my honor to be the tour guide, along with my good friends and Vietnam Veterans Bill “Doc” McClung and Bob Siemer, both combat Veterans of the First Cavalry in Vietnam. Our group which included members of our Post and the Heath Village retirement community had a very good day, and on a personal note, it was the very first time one of the Vietnam Veterans from Heath Village had ever been to any Wall and it was rewarding to him that