VIETNAM WAR - who are the vietnam veterans of america?

On Post
Living, working and succeeding at Fort Knox
VIETNAM WAR
50th Anniversary Edition
 Images of War
 Local National Guard unit’s
activity in the war
 War and waiting: The Kerr
family’s experience
May/June 2015
What’s inside?
OnPost
THE WAR BY THE NUMBERS. A
timeline and statistics of the Vietnam War. . 3
Published and distributed by
The News-Enterprise
408 W. Dixie Ave.
Elizabethtown, KY 42701
www.thenewsenterprise.com
JOINING FORCES. Vietnam veterans
find support with local chapter. . . . . . . . . . . 4
Volume 5 Issue 3
Publisher
Chris Ordway
DID YOU KNOW? Troops trained at
replica villages in Fort Knox . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Editor
Ben Sheroan
270-505-1764
[email protected]
NATIONAL GUARD. Local units
supported war effort . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Advertising Director
Larry Jobe
270-505-1409
Fax: 270-769-1413
[email protected]
WAR AND WAITING. The Kerr family’s
experience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
POW. Kentucky man declared last POW
Vietnam soldier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
REMEMBERING THE FALLEN.
Traveling wall makes stop at Hooray for
Heroes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Account Executives
Bill Anderson
Nancy Farmer
Beth Pyles
Sara Phelps
Jennifer
Simpson
Cris Thomas
Contributors
Robert Villanueva
Becca Owsley
Layout and Design
Gina Clear
Photographers
Jill Pickett
Neal Cardin
ON THE
COVER
Images of War:
A photo essay
by Robert
Griffin . . . . 12
COVER SHOT. Red smoke rises into the air as helicopters fly to pick up wounded
soldiers in Vietnam. Photo by Robert Griffin.
2 ● MAY/JUNE 2015
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THE WAR BY THE NUMBERS
A timeline and statistics
of the Vietnam War
1962
U.S. military presence in South Vietnam had reached
some 9,000 troops, compared with fewer than 800
during the 1950s.
1965
In March, Johnson made the decision – with solid
support from the American public – to send U.S.
combat forces into battle in Vietnam. By June, 82,000
combat troops were stationed in Vietnam.
1969
Hardin’s Own
The following are names of the
fallen from Hardin County listed on
the Ky. Vietnam Memorial website:
Joseph Armstrong
Harold Atcher
William Baney
Thomas Barnes
Roberto Braghini
Lovell Coen
Terry Doan
Lonnie Fields
Robert Geer
Lawrence Greene
Joseph Greenwell
Douglas Johnson
Billy King
Alvin Knight
Miles Loper
Randall Love
Jerry Olds
Benjamin Pinkerton
Marion Powell
Edward Powers
Robert Trigg
Dennis Vance
Sylvain White
Peak U.S. involvement in Vietnam
Troops involved in Vietnam
conflict, 1969: 500,000
Troops deployed to Iraq during
2007 troop surge : 171,000
SOURCE: The Brookings Institute
1973
January 1973, the United States and North Korea
concluded a final peace agreement, ending open
hostilities between the two nations.
1982
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial was unveiled in Washington, D.C. On it were
inscribed the names of 57,939 American armed forces killed or missing during the
war; later additions brought that total to 58,200.
SOURCE: www.history.com
58,200
Number of people
killed during the
Vietnam War:
Americans killed
More than
3,000,000
1,627
1,103
Kentuckians killed
U.S. forces
listed as
MIA
SOURCE: www.dpaa.mil/OurMissing
SOURCE: www.kyvietnammemorial.net
125,000
Kentuckians
served during
the Vietnam era.
The average number of days
of combat U.S. infantrymen
in Vietnam saw in one year,
thanks to the mobility of the helicopter. In
comparison, the average infantry in the
South Pacific during World War II saw only
40 days of combat in four years.
240
Percent of U.S. forces sent to
Vietnam had at least a high school
degree prior to entering military
service. They were the highest educated of
all previously deployed armies.
79
SOURCE: wwww.vietnamwar50th.com
Photo illustration by JUSTIN SHARTZER/The News-Enterprise
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MAY/JUNE 2015 ● 3
Courtesy of ROBERT GRIFFIN
Veteran Larry Whalen preps food for Wounded Warriors at a picnic sponsored by the 1st Cavalry Division Association, Fort Knox Area
Chapter.
Joining Forces
Vietnam veterans find
support with local chapter
By ROBERT VILLANUEVA
The News-Enterprise
Vietnam veterans in Hardin
County can find support from area
groups including a chapter of Vietnam
Veterans of America.
Chartered on April 11, 2011, VVA,
Gold Vault Patriots, Chapter 1051,
has the goal of representing the interests of its members, exchanging
information and developing policy to
address issues identified as of interest
to Vietnam veterans.
The chapter promotes and enforces
the principles of Vietnam Veterans of
America, the national-level organi4 ● MAY/JUNE 2015
zation. The state organization is the
Kentucky Council of the VVA.
Gold Vault Patriots president
George Dille expanded on the goal of
the local chapter to include “to help
one another out and be involved in
the community.”
As a Vietnam veteran, Dille remembers how soldiers returning from
the war were told not to wear their
uniforms at the airport when arriving
home because of war protests. In
2005, he began getting involved in
activities and organizations associated
with veterans.
“We understand one another,”
he said.
Eventually, Dille joined GVP
and in 2014, he became president.
The local chapter has 62 members
on the roster.
One of those members, David
Cowherd, said prior to joining the
chapter, he hadn’t spoken much about
his service in the Navy, much less his
time in Vietnam.
“When I attended the formation
meeting for Elizabethtown Vietnam
Veterans of America, I saw this as an
opportunity to be part of a group of
fellow Vietnam veterans,” Cowherd
said. “They understood what we had
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Members of the Vietnam Veterans of America, Gold Vault Patriots, Chapter 1051,
lend a hand at Warm Blessings in February 2013. Community service is a goal of the
organization.
gone through and had experienced
this country’s treatment of Vietnam
veterans as they returned home.”
“We’re a good group,” vice-president Robert Griffin said. “We look out
for each other.”
Additionally, the mission of the organization was important to Cowherd
and he felt it provided a special opportunity.
“I saw this as a way we could
alter the view and opinion that had
been placed on Vietnam veterans
for their service to their country,”
Cowherd said.
Cowherd served as chairman of
the board of directors for two years,
was vice president for one year and
has served on the events committee
for all four years. He also is Kentucky
State Council of Vietnam Veterans of
America’s membership representative.
The organization, he said, provides
contact with “people that are easy to
talk to and people you can openly
share your stories with without worrying about being judged.”
“In a lot of ways, it has healed
some old scars caused by the treatment we got when we returned home
and what we saw or heard that was
going on at most of the colleges by
protesters of the Vietnam War,”
Cowherd said.
A group like the Gold Vault
Patriots, Dille said, also has the reWWW.THENEWSENTERPRISE.COM ● ON POST
sponsibility of preserving history to
pass along to future generations. He
said he has seen such interest in the
younger generation.
“These kids, they want to know
about it,” Dille said.
Cowherd expressed a similar sentiment.
“It is up to us to tell our stories
and experiences before they are lost
due to our age and health conditions
brought on by our exposure to
Agent Orange,” Cowherd said. “Our
time for passing this information on
is limited.”
Beyond that scope, Dille said the
GVP also stays community minded.
“Real life is getting involved in the
community,” Dille said.
The chapter includes a number of
community activities among its work,
including its clean-up work along
Veterans Way, Veterans Day ceremonies, assistance to Warm Blessings
soup kitchen and veterans’ breakfast
at Allegro Senior Living.
Community involvement is a
priority for the group for many reasons, not the least of which is the
fact Vietnam veterans are dying off,
Dille said.
“They’re not making any more of
us,” Dille said.
Robert Villanueva can be reached
at 270-505-1743 or rvillanueva@
thenewsenterprise.com.
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Submitted photo
Visitors witness a demonstration in a simulated Vietnam village at Fort Knox in 1969.
Training at the post was modified to meet the needs of the Vietnam War.
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Troops trained at
replica villages
in Fort Knox
By ROBERT VILLANUEVA
The News-Enterprise
In the ’60s, not all Vietnam villages
being entered by U.S. military troops
were overseas.
Some were at Fort Knox as part of
training.
Among other things, the post’s role
during the Vietnam War included
providing special training courses for
military personnel preparing to serve.
Matt Rector, Fort Knox historic
preservation specialist, said replica
Vietnam villages were constructed on
post in 1966 to train military personnel for specific combat activity.
During the Vietnam War, military
forces were introduced to combat that
included tunnels and punji sticks, also
called punji stakes. Punji sticks were
used in booby traps by the enemy.
“This is the type of warfare the
Army wasn’t prepared for at the
time,” Rector said.
Villages established for training
at Fort Knox started out as scenarios
created for training during World
War II simulating Japanese settings.
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Submitted photo
Soldiers train with a claymore at Fort Knox during the Vietnam War.
Those villages were modified to reflect Asian settings similar to what
soldiers would encounter in Vietnam,
and later, new villages were created
on ranges on post.
“They really made an effort to create
real-world situations, a little Vietnam
here in Kentucky,” Rector said.
The Fort Knox newspaper, which
was called Inside the Turret at the
time, published stories about the villages and the training taking place.
One such article had the headline “How to Act in the Guerrilla
Theater” and was published Aug.
20, 1968. The article described how
trainees were required to “approach,
surround, enter and search” a simulated Vietnam village.
The villages included establishments such as a go-go joint, the
article said.
In some cases, members of officers’
wives clubs were led through the villages for demonstrations. The purpose
was to give them a better understanding of the training soldiers received
and the conflicts they faced.
“It was a big deal,” Rector said of
the villages.
A major aspect of Fort Knox’s role
during the Vietnam War, Rector said,
was basic training. That included
training draftees.
“This was their first introduction to
the Army,” Rector said.
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Submitted photo
Troops undergo training in a gas
chamber at Fort Knox in 1970 during the
Vietnam War.
flect needs of the time.
Rector said armor was kind of having a challenge, too, with how tanks
supported operations in Vietnam.
Armor Officer Candidate School
was at Fort Knox at the same time.
Additionally, the Women’s Army
Corps and American Red Cross volunteers were a presence on post.
Also during the Vietnam War,
Rector said former American prisoners of war were sent for treatment at
what was then Ireland Army Hospital.
Rector said he still is learning about
Vietnam-era history at Fort Knox.
“It was a very, very busy time,”
he said.
Robert Villanueva can be reached
at 270-505-1743 or rvillanueva@
thenewsenterprise.com.
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Local
National
Guard units
supported
war effort
By ROBERT VILLANUEVA
The News-Enterprise
Submitted photo
Members of B Battery of the 2nd Battalion, 138th Field Artillery, a Kentucky National
Guard unit out of Elizabethtown, take positions with weaponry in Vietnam.
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During the Vietnam War, U.S.
efforts were supported by National
Guard units including batteries in
Hardin County.
The 2nd Battalion, 138th Field
Artillery was ordered to active duty
by President Lyndon B. Johnson
on April 19, 1968, according to
“Kentucky Thunder in Vietnam:
History of 2nd Battalion, 138th
Field Artillery in the Vietnam War,
1968-1969” by John M. Trowbridge.
B Battery and the Service Battery
of that unit were based in Elizabethtown, while other batteries
were in Bardstown, Louisville and
Carrollton.
The publication notes 570 Kentucky Guardsmen and 750 Kentucky
Air Guardsmen were among 24,500
men ordered to active duty in 88
units across the United States.
“When we were activated, we
had towed howitzers, and we had
M14 rifles,” Julius “Bud” Berthold of
Elizabethtown said.
Berthold, who was a captain and
Service Battery commander, said five
batteries comprised the 2nd/138th,
and each consisted of about 100 men.
The Service Battery took supplies
to B Battery, which at the time was
manually determining artillery fire
direction.
That was before the unit was
activated.
After about three weeks of processing, the 2nd/138th traveled to Fort
Hood, Texas, where the guardsmen
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Submitted photo
Work is done at an ammo dump in Vietnam in March 1969 by a member of Service Battery of the 2nd Battalion, 138th Field Artillery,
a Kentucky National Guard unit out of Elizabethtown.
were provided with different
weaponry.
“All the wheeled vehicles were replaced,” Berthold said.
The unit was issued new M109
self-propelled howitzers, he said.
They also were introduced to
the M18 Field Artillery Digital
Automatic Computer and metro/
aviation equipment.
“So they had to get new training,”
Berthold said.
Additionally, the M14s were replaced with M16s, and guardsmen
went from battle dress uniforms to
jungle fatigues, Berthold said.
Elements of 2nd/138th began
deploying for Vietnam on Oct. 11,
1968, with the final elements arriving Oct. 30, according to “Kentucky
Thunder in Vietnam.”
Once in Vietnam, the 2nd/138th
established headquarters at Gia
Le Combat Base, according to the
book by Trowbridge. With firing
batteries occupying bases such as
Fire Base Bastogne, Tomahawk Hill
and Hamburger Hill, the unit was
responsible for providing fire support
for the Screaming Eagles of the 101st
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MAY/JUNE 2015 ● 9
“I think
what we
had on our
side was
maturity.”
GUARD
Continued from PAGE 9
Submitted photo
A tank is the mount for members of B Battery of the 2nd Battalion, 138th Field
Artillery, a Kentucky National Guard unit out of Elizabethtown.
Airborne Division, which is based in
Fort Campbell. The aim of the collaborative effort was to prevent the
North Vietnamese from destroying
neighboring villages that were along
the China Sea.
Elizabethtown resident Kenny
Hawkins served in B Battery.
Hawkins was a specialist 5 at the time
and served as battery clerk.
Hawkins would take reports and
other material to the fire base as part
of his duties in Vietnam. He said the
Kentucky National Guard unit had
an advantage.
“I think what we had on our side
was maturity,” he said.
At the time he served in Vietnam,
Hawkins was 28.
Berthold made a similar
observation, noting the battalion
commander had served in World
War II and Korea.
“You had a lot of experienced people in the unit,” he said.
Berthold was living in Radcliff
when his unit was called up.
“I was working at Fort Knox at the
time,” he said, explaining he was the
deputy contracting officer.
Berthold had just finished constructing a new home, but had not
completely moved in with his family.
They were still sleeping on the floor.
Berthold’s wife, Janey, was expecting their fifth child.
During his training at Fort Hood,
Berthold managed to make a couple
of brief trips home to see his wife
and new infant. He recalled the
last time he saw his wife and “stair
step” children.
“She was holding the fifth child in
Turn to UNITS, PAGE 11
10 ● MAY/JUNE 2015
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UNITS
Continued from PAGE 10
her arms when I left,” he said.
The 2nd/138th served for
a year in Vietnam, and by
the time B Battery completed
its tour of duty, it had fired
a total of 45,784 rounds, the
Trowbridge book says. Some
guardsmen, such as Hawkins,
completed their six-year obligation while overseas and
came home before that year
was over.
The experience did not
leave the guard unit unharmed.
Berthold said B Battery had
no causalities.
For Hawkins, memories
of Vietnam are mixed, with
some of them being “like it
was yesterday” and others not
so much so.
“You kind of forget a lot of
the bad things,” Hawkins said.
Robert Villanueva can be reached
at 270-505-1743 or rvillanueva@
thenewsenterprise.com.
Submitted photo
A member of B Battery of the 2nd Battalion, 138th Field Artillery, a Kentucky National Guard
unit out of Elizabethtown, stands in front of a Christmas tree in Vietnam in 1968.
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MAY/JUNE 2015 ● 11
IMAGES OF WAR
A photo essay by Robert Griffin
R
obert Griffin served as a U.S. Army combat photographer in Vietnam. He
was with the 1st Calvary Division Air and served from June 1966 to March
1968 and September to November 1970.
Griffin remains active in the Vietnam Veterans of America and once worked at
The Turret newspaper, now known as The Gold Standard at Fort Knox.
His photographs have been on display in a variety of exhibits throughout the
country.
1/7th Infantry passing through a deserted village in the
Central Highlands in 1966.
12 ● MAY/JUNE 2015
Troopers on patrol near An Khe to secure the border of the base camp
in 1966.
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Learning how to slide a rope under a UH1 Chopper at An Khe in 1966.
77th Artillery firing for effect at Landing Zone English in
1966.
Photos by ROBERT GRIFFIN
Radio operator calls in artillery support
during a fire fight in 1967.
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Soldiers await order to move out on patrol in Bon
Song in 1966.
C Troop 1/9 Cavalry on
assault near Quan Loi in 1967.
MAY/JUNE 2015 ● 13
Crew chiefs prepare their aircraft for the day at sunrise.
C Trooper 1/9 Cavalry Scout in ambush position
near Bon Song in 1966.
CH 47 Chinook leaves with
a load of 2/12th Infantry
troopers to hit a Landing Zone
in 1970.
Staff Sergeant Eddie Cooper finds an enemy trail marker near
Kontum in 1967.
14 ● MAY/JUNE 2015
B Troop 1/9 Cavalry Scouts patrol the Ho
Chi Minh Trail in 1968.
Soldiers cleaning and inspecting weapons from the dead and
wounded three days after Christmas 1966 at Landing Zone Bird.
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CH 47 Chinook hoovers over Hon Kong
Mountain above Camp Radcliff near An
Khe. The Cavalry patch on the mountain
side is about the size of a football field.
B Troop 1/9th Cavalry Scouts rappelling at An Khe in 1966.
UH 1B “Huey” gunship crashed on landing after being shot near
Quand Loi after a mission in 1967.
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Two B Troop 1/9th Cavalry Scouts take
a break before moving out of a village
near the An Lao Valley in 1967.
Troopers cross a stream near Kontum in 1966.
MAY/JUNE 2015 ● 15
WAR AND WAITING
The Kerr family’s experience
Submitted photo
Bob Kerr left his Glendale farm
to serve in Vietnam in 1968.
He was there a year and two
days before returning home.
16 ● MAY/JUNE 2015
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By BECCA OWSLEY
The News-Enterprise
B
ob and Betty
Kerr’s story
is typical of
many who went
to Vietnam.
One day,
Bob is farming
and the next
day he’s
drafted, at age
21, soon to head
to Vietnam.
It’s the story of many of the soldiers who served in Vietnam and
those back in the states waiting for
them to come home.
Betty and Bob were married five
days before he went into the U.S.
Army.
He completed his basic training at
Fort Knox.
“I climbed up and down the hills
of Misery and Agony,” he said of the
two famous hills on post.
After basic training, he went
to Aberdeen Proving Grounds in
Maryland for AIT, advanced individual training.
“While I was there, they said we
were going to Vietnam, and that’s
when everything changed,” he said.
He went to Vietnam in October
of 1968 and was there a year and
two days.
The two extra days were because
the plane that was supposed to bring
him home was stuck in Alaska.
In Vietnam, he was a mechanic
and drove a convoy at the 36 Evac
Hospital in Vung Tau. He was very
proud of the truck he drove and
wrote “Kentucky” across the front of
one, Betty said.
Submitted photo
Betty and Bob Kerr photographed the day he left for Vietnam in October 1968. They
were married five days before he left for basic training at Fort Knox.
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MAY/JUNE 2015 ● 17
Submitted photo
Bob Kerr pictured with a U.S. Army truck in Vietnam. Inset, Bob Kerr’s Army photo.
KERR
Continued from PAGE 17
He also went to Danang, Long
Binh and Saigon.
He was a farmer from small town
Glendale who went halfway around
the world to defend his country, he
said. It was a big change.
“I took the Lord with me and am
lucky to be back home,” Bob said.
After he was there about a week,
he encountered incoming rounds.
Betty found out about it later. He
didn’t tell her about the dangerous
news when he wrote home. There are
some things he still hasn’t told her.
The convoys he was in were ambushed a few times, but there was
always a machine gun mounted on a
truck in the convoy for defense.
One time, a bridge was taken out
and they had to wait for a floating
bridge before picking up supplies for
the hospital.
In Vietnam, Bob said there
were rice paddies everywhere and
18 ● MAY/JUNE 2015
it never got cold. The only time it
rained was during the monsoon season. The roads were in bad shape
and people didn’t drive on them
very well, he said.
At the evac hospital, he was around
all kinds of wounded. Many came in
with limbs missing.
While there, a Vietnamese teenager
became his buddy. The teen followed
him around everywhere and always
talked about Bob’s blue jeans, which
were hard to get in Vietnam. Bob had
Betty send him a new pair of jeans for
the teen. He could speak English, but
Bob didn’t speak Vietnamese.
“So when he got mad at me I
didn’t know what he was talking
about,” he joked.
Another time, some of his fellow
soldiers wanted a sun deck, so he
built them one on top of one of the
buildings.
Like many in Vietnam, he didn’t
go over with anyone he knew. Once
they got there, soldiers were scattered to different locations. He knew
one guy who he flew over with, but
once they got there, they went to
separate locations.
The worst part, Bob said, was worrying about what was going on back
home and knowing if something happened while he was gone, he wasn’t
there to help.
Bob was in the middle of the war,
but still had to think about what was
going on at home. Letters were his
only link to home.
He tried calling home about 10
times but never got through, even sitting up for hours in the middle of the
night to try.
Today, communication is easier
with cellphones, Internet and video
communication.
Betty had to wait for a letter.
They wrote every day, but it would
take a few days for the letters to arrive. Sometimes it took a week or longer. That’s when she’d worry.
Betty had a map on her wall
and every time Bob wrote to her
about a new location, she’d note it on
the map.
Turn to FAMILY, PAGE 19
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FAMILY
Continued from PAGE 18
He didn’t tell her much about
what he was doing because he didn’t
want her to worry. She was living
at home while he was gone and her
mom cut out any stories from the
paper she thought might worry Betty.
But the empty spots in the paper also
caused worry.
It was hard to wait for the next
letter to arrive, Betty said. Sometimes
she’d send Bob reel to reel tapes for
him to listen to. She sent cookies
once, but it took weeks for them to
get there and they weren’t very good
when they arrived.
Even though it was difficult, Betty
kept it together knowing this was
something he had to do and they
prayed that God would take care of
him. She always felt Bob was fortunate
in the placement he had in the war.
“When he came back, he went
back to work drywalling and helping
on the farm,” she said.
He came back to a mostly
normal life.
“Old country boys are pretty
tough,” Bob said.
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BECCA OWSLEY/The News-Enterprise
Betty and Bob Kerr, at their Elizabethtown home, share their memories of his experience
almost 50 years ago in Vietnam.
His car, a 1966 Mustang, however
wasn’t in as good of shape when he
returned.
“I had a good car when I left,
but when I got back, it was a rag,”
he joked. “She drove the wheels off
that thing.”
They had their first child, Brian, in
1971 and later a daughter, Kellie.
Bob is proud of his service.
“I wouldn’t take nothing for it, but
I wouldn’t want to go back,” he said.
Betty is so proud of Bob’s service
that she tries to thank everyone in uniform she sees.
“They all keep us free,” she said.
Becca Owsley can be reached at 270-505-1741
or [email protected].
MAY/JUNE 2015 ● 19
Submitted photo
Col. Charles Shelton of Owensboro was the last solider classified as a POW from the Vietnam War.
Kentucky man declared
last POW Vietnam soldier
By BECCA OWSLEY
The News-Enterprise
Not only is 2015 the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of
American troop involvement in the
Vietnam War, it is the anniversary of
the beginning of a 50-year-old heartache for the Shelton family.
“Dad was a pilot and flew RF101,”
said Joan Shelton of Louisville. “The
plane was shot down on his 33rd
birthday on April 29, 1965.”
Col. Charles E. Shelton, an
Owensboro native and a U.S. Air
Force captain at the time, was the last
prisoner of war to be listed alive from
the Vietnam War, she said.
20 ● MAY/JUNE 2015
She was only 18 months old when
he was captured by the Pathet Lao
three days after the plane was shot
down. The family of five children
lived in Okinawa at the time.
According to the POW Network
website, Shelton departed Udorn
Airbase in Thailand as the lead plane
on a two aircraft photo-reconnaissance
mission over Laos.
On an attempt to photograph their
second target in the Sam Neua area
of Laos, Shelton’s aircraft was hit and
caught fire.
His wingman, Capt. Richard
Bilheimer, confirmed for Shelton that
the plane was ablaze.
“Roger. You are on fire,” was the
response.
Shelton successfully ejected from
the plane. Rescue efforts were hampered for several days by weather
conditions.
The initial search ended May 5
and Shelton was listed as missing
in action. Officials believed he had
been captured. His status later was
changed to POW.
Reports state Shelton had been
held prisoner in a variety of areas, including caves. Some said he may have
been kept in a shallow ditch with bars
over the top.
It also was reported that he
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Submitted photo
The Col. Charles E. Shelton Freedom
Memorial stands in his hometown of
Owensboro at Riverpark Plaza.
attempted escape many times, becoming well known for his escape
attempts. According to the POW
network site, he was an uncooperative prisoner and reports tell of
escape efforts, resistance and one
account claims he killed three
interrogators.
His name still was circulated as a
living POW into the 1980s. Since the
time of his capture, he was promoted
to colonel.
When the government ended its
search for Shelton, the family continued. His wife, Marian, tirelessly
searched for clues about Shelton and
answers until her death in 1990.
In 1994, the Air Force changed
Shelton’s status to killed in action per
a family request. But neither Shelton
nor his body were found.
On Oct. 4, 1994, the anniversary
of Marian’s death, a ceremony was
held to honor Shelton at Arlington
National Cemetery.
A memorial to Shelton, the
Col. Charles E. Shelton Freedom
Memorial, stands in Riverpark Plaza
in Owensboro.
His daughter, Joan, wants all the
soldiers who served in Vietnam to be
remembered.
“I want people to remember him
as well as all the men and women
who have fought for our country,”
she said. “Some gave all and some
were left behind.”
Although Shelton now is classified
as killed in action, questions continue
to be left unanswered.
“Please leave no one behind and
don’t forget the families that yearn
for answers and closure from and
the pain that is ever constant in
the back of their minds,” she said.
“Remember all our veterans and
pay honor to all.”
Becca Owsley can be reached
at 270-505-1741 or bowsley@
thenewsenterprise.com.
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NEAL CARDIN/The News-Enterprise, file
A pair of Vietnam veterans look at names etched on the half-size traveling replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall after a
dedication service at Elizabethtown Nature Park in May 2014. A replica of the memorial wall was part of the 2015 Hooray for Heroes
event in Radcliff.
Remembering the Fallen
Traveling wall makes stop
at Hooray for Heroes
By ROBERT VILLANUEVA
The News-Enterprise
Signifying many things to many
people, the traveling Vietnam Veterans
Memorial Wall has made its way to
Hardin County on more than one occasion — most recently at Hooray for
Heroes in Radcliff.
With 2015 marking the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War, the replica
22 ● MAY/JUNE 2015
of the Washington, D.C., memorial
provided a fitting element to commemoration activities at Hooray for Heroes.
C.T. Christie and David Cowherd,
members of the Hooray for Heroes
board of directors, coordinated the
inclusion of the traveling Vietnam
Veterans Memorial Wall for the event.
For Cowherd, the presence of the
replica offered a special opportunity.
“Because many are unable to visit
the Vietnam Wall in Washington, D.C.,
this gives them a chance to experience
the emotion that the Vietnam Wall can
cause one to have,” Cowherd said.
Christie said he remembers meeting
a woman 30 years ago who told her
family’s story, which included the fact
that her father was a prisoner of war.
“Her story hit me with such
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NEAL CARDIN/The News-Enterprise, file
The half-size traveling replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall stretches across the lawn at Elizabethtown Nature Park during
a dedication in May 2014. A similar memorial wall was part of Hooray for Heroes in Radcliff this year.
honor and great feeling that I told
her I would not let them be forgotten,” Christie said.
Having the replica Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall at Hooray for
Heroes, he said, was a way to honor
Vietnam veterans. Christie said he has
been to the memorial in Washington,
D.C., three times.
“It was difficult,” he said.
The Vietnam War anniversary was
the focus of Hooray for Heroes and a
way to spotlight those who served.
“It is a time when we Vietnam
veterans could share our war with our
family and friends,” Cowherd said. “It
gives us a time to remember those who
were lost and those who are still missing in this war and to offer our respect
to them and their families.”
Christie, who has spent more
than 20 years helping set up the
replica in places such as Elizabethtown and Louisville, said he started
doing so because of the woman he
met 30 years ago.
Educating the young about the
Vietnam War is important, he said. So
is honoring the “fallen and those left
behind so that they and what we did
will not be forgotten,” Christie said.
Although getting the memorial
replica to Radcliff in and of itself wasn’t
difficult, other considerations did pose
challenges, Cowherd said.
“Raising the funds was the part that
was hardest,” Cowherd said. “Then
planning exhibits and programs to
support the wall has been very time
consuming.”
Education was only one reason it
was important to have the replica at
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Hooray for Heroes.
Christie said the traveling Vietnam
Veterans Memorial Wall can heal a lot
of wounds.
It also, Cowherd said, has personal
significance.
“For me, this was a way to say
thank you to all those who served in
Vietnam; a way for me to show my
gratitude to the families of those killed
or still unaccounted for,” Cowherd
said. “It also brought back some memories and caused me to remember
some really good people I knew there,
both American and Vietnamese.”
Robert Villanueva can be reached
at 270-505-1743 or rvillanueva@
thenewsenterprise.com.
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