Sons of Bridgeton
By Albert B. Kelly
Think of Vietnam and a
flood of images and emotions crowd the mind. It speaks of an era and suggests an
entire generation so that some might picture protests and demonstrations,
others might see images of a jungle, while still others might let their
thoughts wander toward the music or the politics of those days.
On some bureaucratic level
in the seats of power where Congressional declarations are made about war, the
country never quite got around to officially calling Vietnam a war- it was more
of a “conflict” maybe in the way that Korea was a “police action”. Regardless
of what they call it, Bridgeton lost fifteen of her sons in Vietnam.
I think these men deserve
special consideration in their own right precisely because of how it all went
down. Vietnam wasn’t like World War II, where the reasons were clear and the fight
unquestionably righteous.
Vietnam, at least in terms
of why our sons fought and died, was always fuzzy at best. Unlike the attack on
Pearl Harbor, Communist expansion is Southeast Asia or the “domino theory” was
hardly a rallying cry and this is part of why the sacrifices made there aren’t
always honored as they should have been- as they were in other wars and other
causes.
Yet these men did their
duty- they did what was asked of them and whether we think Vietnam a noble
cause or a great mistake, these men sacrificed for the nation and that
sacrifice should not be tarnished because of larger questions about why we were
in Vietnam in the first place.
Nor should their
sacrifices have to compete with the other ghosts from that era; whether from
the streets of Chicago, a college campus, LBJ, Nixon, Woodstock, or Jane Fonda.
No; Harland M. Davis, Jr,
James Wilbert Derbyshire, Kevin Lee Ferguson, Donald Willis Gebhart, Franklin
N. Giles, Jr., Otis Green, Irving Clarence Pierce, Jr., Lester Williams, Jr.,
Edward Orlando Wynder, Jonathan L. Kille, Joseph Davis, Rodney Loatman, Robert
E. Paciorek, Hugh Schavelin, and Donald J. Shang are all sons of Bridgeton who
died in Vietnam. They never made it back home, but that doesn’t mean we
shouldn’t welcome and honor them in their own right.
Not to be forgotten were
those who, while not residents of Bridgeton, became part of the fabric of our
community back when Bridgeton High School served the various sending districts
around the County; these include Walter Bibbs from Dividing Creek, Leroy Hicks
from Newport, and Vidal Sanchez of Shiloh.
They were sons of
Bridgeton and while today we find ourselves as divided as ever when it comes to
race and ethnicity, yet amongst these sons of Bridgeton were found black and
white and Hispanic. I take comfort knowing that we can gather under the stars
and stripes to honor them and the only colors that matter are the reds and the
whites and the blues- if only for a moment.
That’s why I’m inviting
all those who would, to come out to our “welcome home” ceremony on the steps of
the City Hall Annex on Saturday, May 7th at 2:00pm. It is part of a
larger nationwide “Welcome Home” day of recognition honoring our Vietnam
Veterans.
It all seems so long ago, maybe
a couple of lifetimes ago; yet they will be forever young. The oldest among
them was Harland Davis, who died in battle in July 1972 at the age of 26. The
youngest was Kevin Ferguson who died in battle at the age of 18 in October 1967…like
I said, forever young.
I hope to reach out to any
remaining family of these men and invite them to join us, but I don’t know if I
will be successful. If you are reading this and you are related to these fallen
heroes, please contact me at City Hall as it would be truly special to have you
there. If you are a friend or you know members if any of the families, I would
be grateful for any assistance you could provide in putting me in contact with
family members.
As far as these men go,
they were only a few years older than me before Vietnam came and froze them in
time and eternity- so it feels very personal. Heaven knows Vietnam left its own
scar tissue on this country and we live with it even today. Taking time to
welcome them home seems like the right thing to do.
Please join us for a
“Welcome Home” ceremony on the steps of the City Hall Annex on Saturday, May 7th
at 2:00pm.