Name written in stone
During the year 1966, I served with Sgt. Sam R. Allen on Special Forces A Team 341 at Camp Bu Dop on the Cambodian border in III Corps. Sam was a fine medic, a good soldier, and my best friend. Sam was a career soldier, in his early 30s, divorced, and estranged from his ex-wife and 11-year-old daughter.
On more than one occasion Sam and I participated in combat operations together, often in enemy-controlled territory, including one extremely contentious helicopter assault on a well-defended Viet Cong-held village.
Six months after I returned from Vietnam, I read in the Arkansas Gazette that Sam had been killed in an ambush while crossing a stream. His death made the paper because his two older brothers had been killed in action in World War II. Sam was the Private Ryan of the Vietnam war. Sam is honored on panel 20E, Line 4, on the Vietnam Memorial wall.
Upon reflection, after more than 50 years of quiet grief, I pose this rhetorical question: "Who will write your name from stone, washed worn from weeping, granite grim, bleached black in death like blackened bone, this slash smooth scarred rock requiem?"
FLETCHER CLEMENT
Little Rock
When there was war
The person that comes to mind on Memorial Day is Lonnie Holley of Huttig.
I never met him, but one day back in 1952 I was traveling in Huttig, home to hall of fame pianist Floyd Cramer, civil rights activist Daisy Bates, and of course yours truly. I saw this soldier in uniform marching in front of his parents' home. I inquired about him and was told not to mess with him because he was shell-shocked from serving in Korea. Even though I never met him, he became my hero. He was sent back to Korea and was killed.
Because of him I chose to serve my country, but as a conscientious objector. I am not anti-gun; I am anti-killing. One of the books that I read says that I shouldn't kill, and I saw a movie about a young soldier who didn't believe in killing because he had read the same book, and he earned the military's highest honor, the Medal of Honor, and never fired a shot.
I became who I am in part because of my unknown soldier, Lonnie Holley. I have searched for some information in print about him and have not been able to find anything, but I am told that he has been recognized for his contribution to this country. A couple of years ago I had the opportunity to visit with his brother, who was also a Marine. I would like for the family of my unknown soldier to know that he did touch somebody's life, even if it was only in passing. It was something about that uniform that attracted me to the man inside it. I was discharged 50 years ago come December, but I still have my uniform; no, it doesn't fit.
"The Unknown Citizen" by W. H. Auden reminds me of Lonnie: "He was found by the Bureau of Statistics to be One against whom there was no official complaint." Another line that I think applies is, "Except for the War till the day he [died] retired," and another, "When there was peace, he was for peace: when there was war, he went."
Lonnie never got to marry, he never got to have children. All gave some, and some gave all.
FRANKLIN FURLOUGH
Little Rock
Live on in memories
In memory: T.J. Pritchard, Bronze Star, five battle ribbons, Battle of the Bulge, Hürtgen Forest, Army; Eugene O. Meyer, Army, KIA, Normandy, France, November 1944.
JOHN FARCHMAN
Alexander
Think of the sacrifice
If you have traveled to Washington, D.C., you undoubtedly will see a number of memorials and monuments erected that recall certain events. You will see memorials to the various wars that have been fought by our armed forces, but I feel that the context of these memorials is wrongly implied.
I am a veteran, as are my two brothers and one of my sons. I do not wish to memorialize the Vietnam war (during my time) or the Gulf War (during my son's tour). What I wish to honor are the men and women who served in combat and support during the many conflicts we have been involved in. A perfect example of this is the Vietnam Memorial. I have visited this "valley of honor" and I do not know of anyone who has not been touched by what they experience. We see name after name of those who died for this country, for you and me, so that freedom might be preserved.
So when you view a wall of names, such as I viewed at Pearl Harbor, or a sculpture which honors U.S. Marines in Washington, D.C., or visit the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington National Cemetery, think of those involved and the sacrifice they and their families made and honor them with your thoughts and prayers.
GEORGE WILKEN
Little Rock
Serve to keep us free
Every Memorial Day, as well as at other times, I am reminded of the painful death of my dear brother-in-law, who was killed in an armored tank attack in Germany just seven days before World War II ended there on May 7, 1945.
His wife, my oldest sister, received a letter he had written just a day before he died. She was so happy, believing he had survived the war there, until several days--perhaps two or three weeks later--she received the horrible, dreaded War Department telegram. How did she survive and tell their 7-year-old son?
The war was still raging in the Pacific, where I was serving aboard a destroyer, when I heard the devastating news.
Let us hope we will forever remember, honor, and memorialize all those who serve to keep our country free and their Gold Star families.
JACK MURPHY
Little Rock
How holiday began
When I recall Memorial Day, I think of my friend, the late Harry Logan, a photographer to national advertising agencies. Harry, a retired Air Force major, spoke often of his great-grandfather, Union Gen. John A. Logan, and how at the cessation of the Civil War he joined a number of Mississippi women in placing flowers on the graves of fallen Union and Confederate soldiers. The ceremony marked the genesis of Decoration Day, which evolved into Memorial Day.
ROBERT B. BUCHANAN
North Little Rock
Editorial on 05/27/2019