Hicksville Vietnam War Era Memorial

Three new names were added to the Confirmed List of Names in June for a new total of 1,886.  Progress on filling in missing data for the Confirmed List of Names and qualifying the Unconfirmed List continues to be slow and we really need the help of all our readers here. 

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 look for names from your class year and other 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 specifically 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).

Fund Raising:  We have great news this month!  The IRS notified Ken Strafer that we have been fully approved as a not-for-profit (NFP) organization.  As soon as we have the official letter in our hands, Bill Walden will open  our bank account to enable us to start collecting donations to construct the Memorial.

Through HixNews, we also received an inquiry from a group in Levittown who is organizing a Memorial Plaque for the Levittown Historical Museum in honor of all who paid the ultimate price for their Vietnam service.  With four high schools during the Vietnam War Era, they have 37 names on their list; 30 KIA's, 6 killed in non-battle incidents (NBI) and a prisoner of war (POW) who died while in captivity.  We were able to help their Project Team confirm three Levittown residents who attended Hicksville High School due to school zoning reasons who were KIA.  By learning of our efforts, they are also now considering the construction of a Memorial Stone within Levittown also. 

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 anywhere in the world during America 's Vietnam Era (February, 1961 through April, 1975) or on Active Reserve or National Guard Duty in the USA during the same period.
• 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 email what you have to Joe Carfora at jcar4a@aol.com.    Please use the information contained on the current list as a guide for the data needed to complete a name's listing.

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.