All,

Ten new names will be added to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial this year.  One of the names is Larry Dennis Callaghan who served with G Troop, 2nd Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry. 

Larry Callaghan enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1966. Two years later with the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, 119th Infantry Brigade (??) in Vietnam, he sustained a spinal cord injury caused by a land mine explosion during combat operations. He retired from active duty that same year, and received the Vietnam Service Medal, Vietnam Campaign Medal, Combat Infantry Badge and the Purple Heart.

As a member of the NEPVA, for over 30 years, he has held various positons, including Vice President and President. He represents that organization as a member of Massachusetts Community Access Monitor, and Chairman of Section 504 Committee in Norfolk, MA. He served as a member of the Massachusetts Architectural Access Board, which oversees accessibility compliance in public buildings, a private buildings open to the public.

Mr. Callagahan served on the Governor's Advisory Council on Veterans Affairs in Massachusetts and on the Department of Veterans Affairs Management Assistance Council in the Veterans Integrated Service Network.

http://www.pva.org/newsroom/PR2002/pr02074.htm

10 NAMES TO BE ADDED TO VIETNAM VETERANS MEMORIAL

Captain Edward Alan Brudno’s Name To Be Inscribed
Monday, May 10 at 10 AM

Washington, DC — The names of 10 American servicemen will be inscribed on the black granite walls of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial next week, announced Jan C. Scruggs, founder and president of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund.  One of those names, Captain Edward Alan Brudno, will be added on Monday, May 10 at 10 AM, with a rain date of Tuesday, May 11 at 10 AM.

U.S. Air Force Captain Brudno of Quincy, Massachusetts was shot down over North Vietnam in October 1965 and held as a prisoner of war for more than seven years before being released in February 1973.  Four months after arriving back in the United States, Captain Brudno took his own life on June 3, 1973. 

The Department of Defense is the agency responsible for deciding whose names go on The Wall, based on established criteria.  DOD determined that Captain Brudno’s death was a direct result of severe physical, psychological and torture-related combat wounds inflicted by the enemy while he was held prisoner during the Vietnam conflict.

Memorial Architect of Record James Cummings, AIA, and expert stone worker James Lee of Colorado-based Great Panes Glassworks, Inc. will make brief remarks about the newest additions and the inscription process.  With 10 new inscriptions, the Memorial will bear the names of 58,245 men and women who were killed in Vietnam or remain missing in action.

The newest Wall additions include: 

Marine Corps Corporal William Floyd Bronson, Jr.  (Gardner, Massachusetts)
March 17, 1949 - April 13, 1976 // Incident Date: March 9, 1968 
Wall Location: 52 East, Line 46 

Air Force Captain Edward Alan Brudno  (Quincy, Massachusetts)
June 4, 1940 - June 3, 1973 // Incident Date: October 18, 1965
Wall Location: 5 East, Line 2 

Army Sergeant Larry Dennis Callaghan  (Quincy, Massachusetts)
October 8, 1946 - October 24, 2001 // Incident Date: July 21, 1968 
Wall Location: 46 West, Line 32 

Army Sergeant William Edward Humphrey  (Bethel, Tennessee)
November 3, 1941 - February 6, 1980 // Incident Date: May 28, 1966
Wall Location: 17 East, Line 29 

Army SP4 Robert Bruce Hunter  (Belmont, New York)
August 15, 1946 - November 17, 2002 // Incident Date: February 23, 1969
Wall Location: 31 West, Line 11 

Army PFC David Michael Johnson  (Denver, Colorado)
January 5, 1947 - February 2, 2001 // Incident Date: June 8, 1966
Wall Location: 13 East, Line 29 

Navy PO2 Patrick Augustine McKenna  (Fairfax, Virginia)
February 8, 1944 - February 3, 1969 // Incident Date: July 15, 1968
Wall Location: 51 West, Line 22 

Army PFC James Rae Sabourin  (Detroit, Michigan)
March 28, 1947 - January 19, 1969 // Incident Date: November 3, 1967
Wall Location: 29 East, Line 34 

Army SP4 Carl Dennis Wadleigh  (North Bergen, New Jersey)
December 20, 1946 - May 31, 1968 // Incident Date: May 31, 1968
Wall Location: 61 West, Line 15 

Navy AO1 Joe Lee Williams  (Homer, Louisiana)
November 15, 1936 - August 5, 1964 // Incident Date: August 5, 1964
Wall Location: 5 East, Line 29 

“Each year, the Memorial Fund brings stone experts from Great Panes Glassworks, Inc. in Colorado to Washington, DC to perform the process of adding names to the black granite panels and changing the status designations of existing names from missing in action to killed in action,” said Scruggs in making the announcement.  “The highly technical procedure requires meticulous work matching the stroke and depth of the surrounding names to within one thousandth of an inch.”

 
In addition to 10 names being added, the status designations of 17 service members listed on The Wall will be changed from missing-in-action to killed-in-action.  Preceding each name on the Memorial is a symbol designating status.  The diamond symbol denotes confirmation of death; the cross symbol represents missing in action; and when a service member’s remains are returned or accounted for, the diamond symbol is superimposed over the cross.

The new name inscriptions will become “official” at the Annual Memorial Day Observance at The Wall on Monday, May 31 at 1 PM, when they are read aloud.  Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Tom Ridge will deliver the keynote address.

While the Department of Defense makes decisions about whose name is eligible for inscription on The Wall, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund pays for the name additions and status changes, and works with the National Park Service to ensure long-term preservation and maintenance of The Wall.

Dedicated on November 13, 1982, the Memorial was built to honor all who served with the U.S. Armed Forces during the Vietnam War. It has become known as an international symbol of healing that has helped bring together those who stood on different sides during one of the most divisive periods in American history.  Today, The Wall continues to be the most visited memorial in the nation's capital with more than 4.4 million visitors each year.

Established in 1979, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund is the non-profit organization authorized by Congress to build the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.  Today, through a series of outreach programs, the organization works to preserve the legacy of The Wall, to promote healing and to educate about the impact of the Vietnam War.