Hicksville Vietnam War Era Memorial

One new name was added to the Confirmed List in December, for a new total of 1,878 names.  In this typically slow Holiday month, we also made some additional progress on both missing information for names already on the Confirmed List and needed information on the Unconfirmed List. 

As mentioned over the past few months, the Project Team voted to allow the addition of Reserve and National Guard members to the Confirmed List of Names, provided they served during the Vietnam War Era and otherwise meet all other qualification requirements listed below.  Under our old qualification rules, Reserve and National Guard members did not qualify, so if you submitted your name, or the name of a friend, in the past who did not qualify for this reason, please resubmit that name now for inclusion to the Confirmed List of names.

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). 

We are still awaiting confirmation of our petition for not-for-profit (NFP) status from the IRS, in order to proceed with our fund raising plans.  The petition includes establishing a bank account with the name Hicksville Vietnam Era Memorial, LLC.  A tax identification number has been obtained for this entity.

The Project Team officially approved the final copy of governing by-laws of the LLC in early December.  This document was forwarded to the IRS by Ken Strafer on December 3rd, to accompany our NFP petition, noted in the above paragraph.

Memorial Qualifications:  A person must have been on active duty in one of our Armed Forces, served in the Active Reserves or served in the National Guard during the Vietnam War Era.  Active duty personnel 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, Active Reserve or National Guard 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 and is pleased to add its newest member in Terry Wallace:

·        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 '64)

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

·        Terry Wallace, Input Data, Class of '66 & Others, has fundraising experience (HHS '66)                                                    

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

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 nearly 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