Quite impressive... God rest their souls.... Thought you might like to post this on your blog. I did look up Bill Bric. Someone really put a lot of work into this.
Cheers, ^jj^ ;o)) Luana
First click on a state. When it opens, scroll down to the city and the names will appear. Then click on their names. It should show you a picture of the person, or at least their bio and medals. Be sure to click on the “Profile” or “Data Base” link. This really is an amazing web site. Someone spent a lot of time and effort to create it. I hope that everyone who receives this appreciates what those who served in Vietnam sacrificed for our country. The link below is a virtual wall of all those lost during the Vietnam war with the names, bio's and other information on our lost heroes. Those who remember that timeframe, or perhaps lost friends or family can look them up on this site. Pass the link on to others if you like: virtualwall.org
We lost way too many from Burbank:
SSGT JAMES MARVIN BALL
SP4 STEVEN PAUL BARNETT
PH2 CHRISTOPHER PAUL BATTAGLIA
LCDR JAMES ALVIN BEENE
SP4 EDWARD ALLEN BELL
PFC WILLIAM HENRY BRIC III
SGT FELIX ANTONIO CALDERON
SP4 ROBERT JOHN CAMPBELL
CPT DONALD EDWARD CLOSE
SGT MICHAEL JOSEPH CORRIGAN
SP4 JOHN ALBERT DE ROO
LTC FRANK ANTHONY DI FIGLIA
SP4 REESE CURRENTI ELIA Jr
PFC TERRY MICHAEL ENRIQUEZ
SP4 JAMES HERBERT FLICKINGER
PFC STEVEN DAVID FRANCIS
CPL JOHN ANTHONY GERO
LCPL WAYNE EDWIN HALSTEAD
MAJ STEPHEN PAUL HANSON
CPL SCOTT WARREN IGGULDEN
PFC DOUGLAS RAY JOHNSON
SP4 GEORGE FREDERICK KEIPER
CPL RONALD REED KING
CPL HOWARD LEE KLENSKE
SGT EDWARD L KRAUSMAN
CAPT VON MILES LIEBERNECHT
PFC STEPHEN DONALD PLEASANT
PFC WILLIAM C PROCTOR Jr
PFC PAUL VINCENZO QUAGLIERI
LCPL CHARLES PETER SEARLES
SGT GUENTER ROBERT THONUES
SP4 JACK PYEATT WILSON Jr
Los Angeles
PFC DOUGLAS LOUIS DISPENSIERO
Glendale
CPL LARRY LEONARD MAXAM
CLICK HERE and scroll down to see more names at the Burbank Memoriam.
But speaking of Larry Maxam, this Saturday, April 17, 2010, will be the dedication of the Larry Maxam Park in Burbank (details), so please attend if in town.
This photo is from the 1965 Ceralbus when Larry was in 11th grade.
This was Larry's home when he lived in Burbank growing up.
And today there was this Burbank Leader news article:
Vice President Spiro Agnew presents the Maxam family with a posthumous Medal of Honor for Marine Cpl. Larry L. Maxam on April 20, 1970. From left are Cpl. Maxam's mother Alice Maxam, brother Robin Maxam and in-law Sophie Ryan. (Courtesy of the Maxam family)
Ceremony honors slain Marine
Pacific Park will be renamed to commend Medal of Honor recipient, who was killed in the Vietnam War.
By Christopher Cadelago
Burbank Leader
Published: Last Updated Wednesday, April 14, 2010 11:38 AM PDT
source
WEST BURBANK — Forty-two years after Marine Cpl. Larry L. Maxam made the ultimate sacrifice, Burbank officials are preparing to dedicate a public park in recognition of the city’s only Medal of Honor recipient.
Dignitaries at 11 a.m. Saturday will rename Pacific Park at 3715 Pacific Ave. in honor of Maxam, who was posthumously awarded the medal by President Nixon for “conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty” in the Vietnam War.
The Medal of Honor is the nation’s highest military award. And while Maxam died in a war many tried to forget, one veteran, Mickey DePalo, has made it his mission over the last 1 1/2 years to give the hero — and other troops — their due.
“There’s one school of thought that says this should have been done a long time ago. My opinion is it’s never too late,” said DePalo, chairman of the city’s Veterans Commemorative Committee, which recommended the dedication to city and parks officials. “We’re able to live today because of people like him.”
Born in Glendale, Maxam attended Burbank schools before enlisting in the Marine Corps in 1965 . He arrived in Vietnam two years later and served as a rifleman, radioman and squad leader with Company D, 1st Battalion 4th Marines, 3rd Marine Division.
On Feb. 2, 1968, four months after Maxam was promoted to corporal, Cam Lo District Headquarters came under heavy artillery and gun fire. Wounded by fragments of exploding grenades, he ran to an abandoned machine gun and fired on advancing forces.
“As the enemy directed maximum firepower against the determined Marine, Cpl. Maxam’s position received a direct hit from a rocket-propelled grenade, knocking him backwards and inflicting severe fragmentation wounds to his face and right eye,” according to the citation that accompanied the medal.
Maxam returned to his feet and kept firing.
He was hit again with small-arms fire but kept firing, causing the enemy to retreat.
Then, in an attempt to silence his weapon, North Vietnamese inflicted two more wounds with hand grenades and rifle fire.
“Too weak to reload his machine gun, Cpl. Maxam fell to a prone position and valiantly continued to deliver effective fire with his rifle. After 1 1/2 hours, during which he was hit repeatedly by fragments from exploding grenades and concentrated small-arms fire, he succumbed to his wounds, having successfully defended nearly half of the perimeter single-handedly,” according to the citation.
“He just did what was right, but for him to size up the situation and do what he had to do to protect his fellow Marines was extraordinary,” said his first cousin, Gary Saldutti.
“I don’t know that a lot of people would do what he did.”
Saldutti plans to reunite with Maxam’s brother and sister, who live in Australia, for the first time in 40 years. Their mother, Alice Maxam, was not about to lose another son to battle in Vietnam, so the family moved as far away from the U.S. as possible, Saldutti said.
Alice Maxam died in 2008.
In Burbank, dozens of Marines, including a handful who fought alongside Larry Maxam, will watch as the family is presented with an American flag. The dedication will include park signage and a bronze plaque containing the full citation.
The event speaks to the city’s long-standing commitment to honoring veterans through annual celebrations, personalized banners and a program that has delivered more than 40 tons of health and comfort items to troops in Afghanistan and Iraq, said Burbank Mayor Gary Bric, whose brother, William, died in Vietnam the same year as Larry Maxam.
Saldutti said he began to dig deeper into the story of Larry Maxam’s sacrifice after connecting with Sherman Fleek, historian for the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Fleek was researching Medal of Honor recipients for a 40-page chapter in his book tentatively titled: “Corporal Larry Maxam, the Lionheart: And the Defense of Cam Lo.”
Three years ago, when Saldutti and his wife were expecting a son, they began to ponder possible names. Leafing through documents provided by the family, Saldutti said they came upon a letter that alluded to troops and commanders referring to Larry Maxam as “Max.”
“That kind of stuck,” Saldutti said. “My wife said, ‘There it is. Let’s name him Max.’ He has a lot to live up to.”
Looking for a photo of Felix Antonio Calderon to be posted on the Viet Nam virtual wall of faces.
ReplyDeleteHi Jeannie,
DeleteI'm asking around for his photo and will let you know.
Cathy