(A) The day begins with the Salvation Army, committed and dedicated to serve.

(B) Roger Martel and Roland Lafrance are caught sitting down which is actually a rare sight. Many of the volunteers were prepared to speak to the students.

(C) Ron Duchette was always helping and providing rides to those with health issues.

(D) Bill Bradbury, Jimmy Murphy and rev. Albert Lepine.

(E) Gerry N. Cain, Women's Marine Corps Association and Marine Warren K. Clark Marine Corps League Central Maine Detachment 810.

(F) Gary Brooks, Vietnam Vet and ?.

(G) Charles Honaker American Legion Post 111

(H) Charles Honaker of Post 111, Turner points to the only Vietnam Veteran killed from Turner Maine, Philip Sherwood Bryant HM3.

(I) Roger Martel begins the Vietnam Wall experience by explaining the painting on the Memorial Vault.

(J-T) students visiting the wall

(U) McMahon school students place flags in front of the panel where Thomas J. McMahon's name is on the Vietnam Wall.

(V-W) McMahon school students paused for the pledge of allegiance and to sing a patriotic song. Many of the veterans on hand were deeply touched by the students.

(X) The document explaining the origin of placing a "Purple Heart" at the apex of the wall.

A B C D E F G H

I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W  

The following five pictures are of volunteers taking a lunch break. The Hospitality Committee was superb. They deserve a round of applause. They took care of us as if we were their children.

(X) While pouring the foundation at the Wall, a combat wounded veteran climbed to the top of the dirt mound. After several minutes of starring into the ground he reached into his pocket and pulled something out. A construction worker asked, What did you place into the concrete? Another worker said, "That's a Purple Heart." The construction worker then asked, Why did you place your medal in the concrete? The combat wounded veteran replied, "They say they are building a memorial to help "Heal" the wounds, if its going to help heal, it's got to have a heart. Upon hearing this true story, a volunteer at this "Dignity Memorial Vietnam Wall", purchased a little red heart to be placed under the foundation of the apex of this wall. Volunteers observing this asked why the heart had been placed. Out of the crowd of volunteers came a man and woman who asked if it could be repeated as her husband had not heard. After explaining the story again, the woman proceeded to explain that her husband's family had lost a brother and he had a Purple Heart. The woman said that they wanted to talk to their mother, as they knew that she would like to surrender this Heart to the "Dignity Memorial Vietnam Wall".

Jimmy Murphy presented a framed page of the Life Magazine, June 27th  1969 of the faces of the fallen to Paul R. Bernard, 3rd District Public Relations Historian, American Legion, Department of Maine. This issue pictured 217 of the 242 men who had been killed from May 28th to June 3rd. The week had no special significance, said Life. In fact, it was chosen because the casualties were average for any seven day period during this stage of the war. Paul will hang the document at the registered office of the Turner Memorial Post 111 until such time as the post has a home.

Audio Slide Show: Vietnam Veteran Memorial wall replica visits Lewiston

A History Lesson from Veterans who lived it.

Scott Taylor , Staff Writer, Sun Journal

edited by Historian, Paul R. Bernard
Friday, September 28, 2007

Former Lewiston Mayor and now Mayor of Auburn John Jenkins speaks to the students of McMahon School.

LEWISTON - Alan Willette of Durham walked backward in front of a group of students, his right hand tracing the memorial wall, keeping him on track while he explained its significance.
He reached the year 1968 on the wall, the middle point of his service in Vietnam but the last quarter of the wall. It's an important thing for the kids to keep in mind, he said. "We figured we'd won the war back in 1968," Willette said. But things changed, and the war dragged on until 1975 and the casualties continued to mount. The names of those killed were written on the wall behind him.
  "Vietnam veterans, we weren't really welcomed back," Willette said. "Not right away, at least. We had to go a long way before we were welcomed home."
People need to understand that, he said. That's why having the replica wall in Lewiston is so important.
The wall officially opened to the public at dawn this morning, but organizers and volunteers invited schoolchildren to be the first to visit it Thursday.
Organizers expect between 30,000 and 40,000 people by the time the memorial closes Sunday afternoon, according to L&A Veterans Council Chairman Bert Dutil.
The wall, 8 feet tall and 240 feet long, is a replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. The replica is spread along the western side of Veterans Memorial Park at the edge of the Androscoggin River below Great Falls.
It was brought to Lewiston by national funeral home chain Service Corporation International and its Lewiston-Auburn affiliate, the Fortin Group. The company takes the wall to 20 cities a year, at no cost to the communities.
Bill Bradbury, Jimmy Murphy and Rev. Albert Lepine aid the students in finding names on the wall.  Dozens of volunteers have signed on to help. They give tours, talk about the history of the Vietnam conflict and explain the wall. Another group sits at computer terminals along the walkway before the wall.

They're ready to look up names of the war's casualties and help family members and friends find them on the wall.
Visitors on Thursday included busloads of middle and high school students from most nearby schools and all grades from Lewiston's McMahon Elementary. That school was named for Thomas J. McMahon, a Lewiston native who was killed in Vietnam on March 19, 1969.  Students from the McMahon school placed American Flags that they made at school. Students from a variety of ethnic backgrounds came to learn and pay respect to these American Heroes who did not ask why? but served with honor and dignity. Some students had military tee shirts, some had pins and flags on their shirts and jackets.

Several students used pencil and paper to get rubbings of his name (Thomas J. McMahon) as they walked along. "Most the students understand that Vietnam was a war, and they might have grandparents that served there," said McMahon sixth-grade teacher Tim Smith.

Gary Brooks of the Turner Memorial Post 111 speaks to the students about Thomas J. McMahon's purple heart. "But they don't know a bunch about it. This is a good opportunity for them to learn."

Marc Lepage, an eighth-grade teacher at Trinity Catholic School, said his students will begin a section on the Vietnam conflict later this year. "But there's no way we'll get the opportunity to visit the real wall then, so this is a fantastic opportunity," he said.

Paul R. Bernard, 3rd District Public Relations Historian, American Legion spoke to the students about the most unusual name on the Vietnam wall. A. Frank W. Jealous of Him, a Dakota Indian from the Wounded Knee District of the Pine.

Jealous of Him joined the Army to escape his life without a future at Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Jealous of Him was killed from a small arms fire at Quang Tin Province, South Vietnam. Frank enlisted in the Army on February 1, 1968 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Frank went to Fort Lewis, Washington, for basic training. Although his scores on his aptitude tests were said to be very high, which could have made him eligible for officers’ training, he went on to Fort Polk, Louisiana to Advanced Infantry Training, but first went back to Wounded Knee for a three-week leave. During that leave, there was a large send-off for Frank where he got the Warrior’s name, Ana Kita or They Run To Him because his grandmother said that in Vietnam people would run to her grandson for help and security.

He returned to active duty in late April of 1968. He began his tour of duty in Vietnam on August 22, 1968, as a member of Company B, 1st Battalion, 46th Infantry, 198th Light Infantry Brigade, America Division. First stationed close to Da Nang near a helicopter landing zone called LZ Baldy, Jealous of Him wrote home that he served as point very often. He was known to locate booby-traps and once brought in a lost squad through radio transmission by just using his map and compass bearings, saving that squad and also themselves from having to go out and find them. Frank took to wearing an OD towel like a poncho because their fatigues wore out so quickly. It is said that many others started to do the same. On March 6, 1969, he received orders transferring them to LZ Professional near Chu Lai. When asked about a planned assault by the NVA, Frank is said to have offered this advice:

“Well, you got to use your feelings, your intuition, not be distracted for a minute. Chances of hitting a booby trap are greater than seeing any NVA…so watch the ground, then before you step, look up…really look at the trees.

If there is a cluster of leaves or a dark spot that shouldn’t be there, it could be a sniper or a wired shell. The wires are small, so move slow, keep an eye on the men to your flanks so we move at the same speed.” Towards the end of his life, Frank apparently always took the point. Shortly before his death, in a confrontation with another soldier, he was quoted as saying, “Whether I’m fighting for you whites or whether I’m just trying to get home alive, I’m not even sure. You white boys got a world to go back to. If I make it home, it will be to poverty …” On June 9, 1969 in the evening, Specialist Jealous of Him went out on patrol, and it seemed quiet.

He is said to have remarked, “If anything bothers me, it’s that either there’s really no one out here, or they know we’re here.” Soon after they stopped for water. Frank’s friend, Karl Schofer, volunteered to fill canteens, so Frank went with him to the river. As they were leaving, Karl was shot by a sniper. Frank dove for him, yelling, “I’m here, man, I’m here for you, white boy. Hang on to me; I’m going to get you out.” Picking him up, he tried to get them both to safety. Instead they were both killed. Army Specialist 4, Frank William Jealous of Him died from small arms fire on June 9, 1969, in Quang Tin Province, South Vietnam. According to the Epilogue in Of Uncommon Birth by Mark St. Pierre, on Friday, June 13, 1969, four days after Frank was killed, the former company was “overrun and wiped out. 55 men were killed or wounded.” When the tribal policeman located Clayton Jealous of Him and his wife in Pine Ridge, he told them to go the County Store in Wounded Knee right away as there was an Army sergeant looking for them. He and Bernice tried to think maybe Frank was coming home early or that he was being awarded a medal. In the meantime people gathered around the store waiting. Finally after hours of waiting, the sergeant delivered the devastating news and telegram to Clayton. Word was received on June 19, 1969, that Frank’s body was on its way from Washington, DC to Rapid City. There was a memorial service first in Rapid City since Frank had been such a popular musician with the students at South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. Then, led by highway patrolmen, the hearse, escorted by 30 airmen serving as honor guards, made its way across the prairie toward Wounded Knee—with about 150 cars following and people lining the roads. After an emotional three-day wake, the body of Frank Jealous of Him was buried with military honors on June 24, 1969, at a cemetery at Porcupine. “As male relatives took turns, Billy was laid to rest one shovelful at a time.” Among his awards, Frank Jealous of Him is believed to have been awarded the Silver Star posthumously for trying to rescue his friend and comrade.

Bernard also spoke of Lieutenant Colonel, Albert Peter Dewey who was gunned down by Viet Minh troops on September 26th, 1945 as he was driving a jeep to the Saigon airport. Dewey was the son of a former Illinois congressman and an agent in the office of strategic services. He became the first American killed in what would come to be called the Vietnam Era. Dewey is not listed on the Vietnam Wall.

Michael Johnson SPC of the 133rd Engineer Battalion, Army National Guard donated his time at the wall. Johnson was also involved in setting the base of the wall on Saturday, September 22nd.

Gary K. Brooks of the American Legion, Turner Memorial Post 111, donated his time to speak to the thousands of school children that came by.

Warren K. Clark, Marine Corps League, Central Maine Detachment 810, Auburn and American Legion Commander of the Turner Memorial Post 111 donated his time from Saturday the 22nd to Monday October 1st.

Retirement Ceremony of Command Master Chief Donald J. Holman

Friday Opening Day