Hicksville Vietnam War Era Memorial

Two names were added to the Confirmed List of Names in June for a new total of 1,817.  Thanks to the continued help of our alumnus at the library, who prefers anonymity and new efforts from Bob Casale, we made excellent progress in June on both missing information for names already on the Confirmed List and needed information on the Unconfirmed List.  

As a HixNews reader, please continue to help us by reviewing both lists when you select the "click here options near the bottom of this update with your computer mouse.  To speed the process, just use your class year or the years you may be familiar with as a reference and see if you have a new name or some missing data on existing names to email to us.  Class years, where known, are specifically shown to make this effort easier for everyone.  Missing data for names is shown in red, to make it easier for readers to see what's needed.

The Unconfirmed List was created to insure we don't leave anyone behind from earlier class years (the 1940's and 50's) who served during the Vietnam War Era and deserve recognition.  Please see if you can help us establish if these folks served during the Vietnam Era (Vietnam Era dates are shown in the "Memorial Qualifications" section below).  Twelve new names were added to the Unconfirmed List in June for a new total of 177.

June also saw us gain official site approval for the Memorial with full agreement from both the Hicksville Superintendant of Schools (Mrs. Maureen Bright) and the Hicksville School Board.  Plus, Bill Walden met with Mrs. Bright at the site and they agreed that a spot on the north side of the Memorial Gardens (located at the Jerusalem Avenue Middle School ) would be perfect for us.  We intend to blend the Vietnam Era Memorial in with the Memorials from previous wars already at the site so each Memorial continues to have its own identity and distinction.

With the official site now confirmed, we are proceeding with plans for raising funds to construct the Memorial.  We should firm up the brick paver walkway donation plan, originally laid out by Jay Tranchina and reviewed by Bill Walden at the site with Mrs. Bright last week, within the next month or so.  Plus, donors will be able to send open donations to the not for profit account we are establishing at any time.

Ken Strafer is doing the work to petition a tax identification number for the not for profit account with the IRS.  The petition will include establishing the account with the name Hicksville Vietnam Era Memorial, LLC.

In addition, Bob Casale has done a bang up job on a Hicksville Military Service DVD from all eras that can be viewed using the link provided in this issue of HixNews.  We also intend to use the DVD for additional Vietnam Era Memorial Fund raising purposes.

Memorial Qualifications:  A person must have been on active duty in one of our Armed Forces during the Vietnam Era.  The person did not necessarily have to serve in Vietnam , because by being in service at that time he or she faced the possibility of being sent to Vietnam and was an integral part of strengthening our Armed Forces during a time of war.

Overall qualifications include:

  • must have been a resident of Hicksville at some time before entering our Armed Forces
  • must have attended a public, private or parochial high school while living in Hicksville (attendance at HHS not required)
  • must have served on active duty anywhere in the world during America 's Vietnam Era (February,1961 through April,1975)
  • Both men and women qualify (We're stating this since, while a number of women have been added, we still have relatively few on the current list overall)

Our Project Team consists of the following HHS Alumni and Vietnam War Era Veterans:

·         Ken Strafer, Founder (HHS '62)

·         Joe Carfora, Project Coordinator & Master List (HHS '62)

·         Carl Probst, Input Data, Class of '59 & Others (HHS '59)

·         Tony Plonski, Input Data, Class of '64 & Others (HHS '64)

·         Tommy Sullivan, Press Release Editing (HHS '63)

·         Walter Schmidt, Town of Oyster Bay Veterans Services Officer (HHS '65)

·         Joe Ingino, Veterans Advocate, Hicksville & Long Island (HHS '67)

·         Jay Tranchina, Input Data, Class of '64 & Others, plus local press contact (HHS 1964)

·         Bill Walden, Cmdr of Hicksville VFW Post, Site Selection/Approval & Fundraising Leader (HHS '65)                                                   

 

Here's what we continue to need from each person reading this to do:

Please click on the following link to review the Confirmed List of Names:  Click Here

Please click on the following link to review the UNCONFIRMED List of Names:  Click Here

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AmMG_lUq31y2dFhTTmw4dWVjbVQ0aDd3OE5Pelcwcmc&usp=sharing

If you know of someone who is not listed, or if you have information we are still missing, please send what you have to Joe Carfora at jcarfora1@nc.rr.com.  Please use the information contained on the current list as a guide for the data we need.

Thank you!

The Vietnam War Era Memorial Project Team

Footnote extracted from www.vietnamwar.com:  During 15 years of military involvement, over 2 million Americans served in Vietnam with 500,000 seeing actual combat. 47,244 were killed in action, including 8000 airmen. There were 10,446 non-combat deaths. 153,329 were seriously wounded, including 10,000 amputees. Over 2400 American POWs/MIAs were unaccounted for as of 1973.

To access a huge list of veteran related websites that offer assistance, visit http://buffalobobcasale.com