Journalist @baltimoresun writer artist runner #amwriting Chaplain PIO #partylikeajournalist

Journalist @baltimoresun writer artist runner #amwriting Chaplain PIO #partylikeajournalist
Journalist @baltimoresun writer artist runner #amwriting Md Troopers Assoc #20 & Westminster Md Fire Dept Chaplain PIO #partylikeajournalist
Showing posts with label Military Vietnam. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Military Vietnam. Show all posts

Thursday, March 29, 2018

NATIONAL VIETNAM WAR VETERANS DAY

NATIONAL VIETNAM WAR VETERANS DAY


Who knew?

www.vietnamwar50th.com: On March 29, America will observe National Vietnam War Veterans Day. This special day was added to our national commemorations when the President signed into law The Vietnam War Veterans Recognition Act of 2017.

I learned about from the March edition of the American Legion magazine…


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Wednesday, May 24, 2017

Quote from a C-Ration box at Khe Sanh #MemorialDay


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Say no to #MemorialDay sales

May 25, 2015

Please remember why we have Memorial Day. It is not to buy 3 tires and get one Free. Thank you Veterans

I try to keep track of businesses that have Memorial Day sales; then try to never-ever do business with them.


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Michel Elben Carroll County Times twitter.com/MichelElben


Proudly waving American flags, over 40 people walked half a mile from the St. Matthew United Church of Christ to the Pleasant Valley Cemetery Sunday afternoon to honor those killed in service to their country in observance of Memorial Day.

"We honor the people that have given the utmost to our country and kept America free," said Arthur Jenne, a retired Marine Corps officer from Pleasant Valley.

[…]

Kevin Dayhoff, who served in the Marine Corps Reserves, was the keynote speaker.

"It is our duty and responsibility as citizens, to remember these brave sons of Carroll County and never forget the men and women who know all too well the cost of our freedom, for their service to our country is the greatest gift of all," Dayhoff said.

[…]




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Originally published May 25, 2013

Say no to #MemorialDay sales http://tinyurl.com/qakbohk


Memorial Day 2013 To those who serve thank you

Please remember why we have Memorial Day. It is not to buy 3 tires and get one Free. Thank you Veterans http://tinyurl.com/7pbef68 http://twitpic.com/9q5f4x

I try to keep track of businesses that have Memorial Day sales Then try to never-ever do business with them.

Memorial Day To those who serve thank you http://tinyurl.com/o6msbgl





Memorial Day To those who serve thank you http://tinyurl.com/7pbef68  - http://twitpic.com/9q5f4x

For more stories on Memorial Day, on Kevin Dayhoff Soundtrack click on: http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/search/label/Annual%20Memorial%20Day http://tinyurl.com/o6msbgl

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For more stories on Memorial Day, on Kevin Dayhoff Soundtrack:

Memorial Day To those who serve thank you










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Eagle Archive: For Memorial Day, we recall a fallen soldier who made sure we remembered others By Kevin Dayhoff, May 26, 2012 ... on the granite Vietnam Memorial, in Washington. More ... County. After attending Memorial Day ceremonies at the Westminster ... Cemetery on May 28, Kevin Dayhoff may be found at the Carroll County Vietnam Memorial Park on Willis Street ...

Eagle Archive: Wampler's life of service made him an apt participant on Memorial Day By Kevin Dayhoff, May 19, 2012 ... and proud veteran. He was the Memorial Day parade marshal for more than 44 ... missed, but not forgotten. This Memorial Day, I'll be saying a prayer for ... sacrifice for our country, Kevin Dayhoff may be reached at kevindayhoff ...

... represent "Miss Poppy" for the observance of Memorial Day. In the United States, the poppy is most often worn on Memorial Day. Pat Davis, who is assisting the ... this," said Amass of Krauss. Kevin Dayhoff

By Kevin E. Dayhoff, June 2, 2012 ... Westminster for the expanded 145th Memorial Day parade and ceremonies. Main ... had been the focal point of many Memorial Day observances in Westminster ? after ... May 30, 1868. This year's Memorial Day address was delivered by Navy Commander ...

... to visit the USS Maine Memorial Plat in the middle of ... Cemetery. The Maine Memorial area, surrounded by ... It was on the second day of military operations ... Well," and, to this day, the battle is commemorated ... south in February Kevin Dayhoff may be reached at…

By Kevin E. Dayhoff, Story January 28, 2013
... cemetery when they attend the annual Memorial Day parade. The annual observance ... before, make plans to attend the Memorial Day ceremonies in Westminster. This ... the Westminster Cemetery, Kevin Dayhoff may be reached at

By Kevin E. Dayhoff, January 12, 2013 ... A. P. Schultz, Monuments and Tombstones ... The good ole' days were indeed hard ... often took several days, and it was made ... microwave oven, Kevin Dayhoff may be reached at ... A. P. Schultz, Monuments and Tombstones ... much easier than day-to-day life in ...

Charles Fisher Sr., 95, attorney and last surviving co-founder of Carroll Hospital Center, dies By Kevin Dayhoff, June 26, 2012 ... Department of Public Welfare during the day, and attended classes three evenings ... head of Westminster's annual Memorial Day parade with other local veterans ... John Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be sent to St ...

By Kevin Dayhoff, May 26, 2012 ... will be remembered on the first Memorial Day since his death in January ... Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens' Memorial Day observance, in Timonium ... Valley has conducted an annual Memorial Day observance since 1967. The memorial ...

By Kevin Dayhoff, September 9, 2011 ... cookouts over the three-day Labor Day weekend, men and women ... have any memory of that day or weren't yet born ... attend one of the several memorial services that will take ... 11 anniversary, Kevin Dayhoff may be reached at kevindayhoff ...

By Kevin Dayhoff, November 1, 2011 ... Shellman founded Westminster's Memorial Day Parade in 1868 ? today believed ... the longest continuously running Memorial Day parade in the country. She ... Arlington National Cemetery," the Memorial Day poem for Antietam Battlefield and ...

By Kevin Dayhoff, Carroll Eagle and Steve Kilar, Baltimore Sun, January 12, 2012 ... Base. "This is a tragic day for (Seidler's unit), and ... Interment will be later that day at Arlington National Cemetery ... join the military. In the days following news of Seidler ... payable to: The Matthew Seidler Memorial Fund, c/o Susquehanna Bank ...

By Kevin Dayhoff, January 7, 2012 ... no additional details were released. "This is a tragic day for (Seidler's unit), and especially for Matt's family ... the pride we'll feel when we see Matt's name on the EOD Memorial Wall at Eglin Air Force Base will not extinguish the sorrow ...



[20130525 Say no to Memorial Day sales]

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Monday, May 15, 2017

My upcoming story this Sunday, May 21, 2017, will be on Sgt. Joe Oreto

My upcoming story this Sunday, May 21, 2017, will be on Sgt. Joe Oreto


Biên Hòa Memories # 32 -  Biên Hòa Air Base 1960-1970 - VNAF

May 15, 2017

On May 29, Carroll County will mark its 150th continuous annual observance of Memorial Day with a parade and ceremonies at the Westminster Cemetery. The annual tradition was first organized by Mary Bostwick Shellman on May 30, 1868.

Please remember why we have Memorial Day. The day is not set aside to have a cookout with hamburgers and hotdogs or eat crabs. It is not day off from work to go buy 3 tires and get one free. I try to keep track of businesses that have Memorial Day sales and then vow, if at all possible, to never-ever do business with them.

My upcoming story this Sunday, May 21, 2017, will be on Sgt. Joe Oreto, who died in Tay Ninh Province Vit Nam up along the Cambodian border, during Operation Toan Thang II, on April 13, 1969.  http://www.carrollcountytimes.com/search/dispatcher.front?Query=Kevin+Dayhoff&target=all&spell=on

He was 21 years-old and had only been married for six months to a local Westminster girl who lived on Augusta Drive. He was deployed to Vietnam in November 1968, right after he married Georgia Croft, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George Croft, Westminster, in October 1968. According to a Carroll County Times article on May 28, 1989, “He was against killing of any kind, but felt he should do his duty," a relative said at the time of his death.

I lost track of the Croft family, many years ago. Have any of my Facebook friends kept-up with the family. Where is Georgia today? Does the family still live in Westminster?

I am amazed by the folks I hear from by way of Facebook. Folks I served with almost 45-years ago. I hear from the families of the folks I have written about, from all over the world.

My law enforcement friends might note that when he was drafted, after two-years of college at St. Mary’s College – then a two-year school, he was a cadet training to be a police officer with the Washington D.C. Police. His father was a U.S. Marshal stationed in Chattanooga, TN.

On May 29, Carroll County will mark its 150th continuous annual observance of Memorial Day with a parade and ceremonies at the Westminster Cemetery. The annual tradition was first organized by Mary Bostwick Shellman on May 30, 1868.

The Carroll County Maryland Vietnam Memorial Park at the corner of Willis and Court Street, next to the historic Courthouse was dedicated on May 28, 1990. Ever since then many of us who served, stateside, as I did, or were deployed, have spontaneously gathered there after the Memorial Day Services at the Westminster Cemetery.

There we pay homage to our friends, colleagues, and loved ones from Carroll County who made the ultimate sacrifice in Vietnam, to tell their stories for them...

The faces of the nineteen names on the monument, 17 killed in action, one missing in action, and one prisoner of war, are frozen in time. Some we knew. Some we didn’t. But they were all someone’s son or father or brother or uncle – or a cherished childhood friend. Their faces have been silent for many years, but they all have a story to tell.

The first person listed on the Carroll County Vietnam memorial was Ronald Kenny, February 1966. The last was Herbert Mulkey, Jr., March 1971. The deadliest year for Carroll County – and the war – was 1968, when Carroll County lost seven men to the memorial.

In past columns, I have shared the stories of eight of the eighteen fallen heroes from the Vietnam War whose faces are etched in the black granite memorial in the Carroll County Vietnam Memorial Park on Willis Street.

The stories of Fred Magsamen, Christopher Jesse Miller, Jr., Stanley Groomes, Joseph Blickenstaff, Herbert Eugene Mulkey, Jr., James Norman Byers, Ronald Kenny, and Sherman E. Flanagan, Jr., have been re-told in hopes that they will not be forgotten.

Of the 19 names on the monument at the Carroll County Vietnam Memorial, two served in the famed 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment (ACR) – known as the Black Horse Regiment.

On July 18, 2009 members of the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment Air Cavalry Troop – the Black Horse Regiment, came from all over the world to hold a memorial service to remember the fallen from the Vietnam War at the Carroll County Vietnam Memorial Park at Willis and Court Streets in Westminster.

Oreto was stationed at the Bien Hoa Air Base, about 16-miles above Saigon and killed in Tay Ninh Province up along the Cambodian border, during Operation Toan Thang II.

Not that any of the Vietnam years – or the 1960s were easy, but 1968 and 1969 were especially difficult years.

Many folks who grew-up in the 1960s remember Walter Cronkite for many different reasons. I mention this because in the late 1960s, I referred to his newscast as “Walter Cronkite and the blues.”

It was sometime after the Tet Offensive began on January 30, 1968 that I wrote one my first essays on Vietnam. I called it “There is nothing casual about casualties.”

In that essay, which I have since, unfortunately, lost, I questioned the strategy of the war; especially why Cronkite was so fixated on the numbers. 

I suggested in the essay that all those numbers had a painful personal story and that something was wrong with the picture… I felt that the death of American servicemen – in ever-increasing numbers – was certainly more meaningful than a statistics box on the screen over the shoulder of Walter Cronkite.

I guess I got into a little hot water over the essay… I guess that’s a long story for another time; but by the end of 1968, 536,040 American servicemen were stationed in Vietnam, an increase of over 50,000 from 1967. In 1968 the war cost 14,584 Americans their lives - a 56 percent increase over 1967.


For those not familiar, there is a YouTube about the Biên Hòa Air Base 1960-1970: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTLV-9pR_-k

Thursday, April 20, 2017

The last words of SPC Jordan Shay



April 20, 2017 by Kevin Dayhoff

I awakened early this morning to an odd email that enigmatically resulted from a series of events from 2009 – August, late summer 2009. On any given day, I can barely remember what I had for breakfast, much less, recall events from eight-years ago.

But it came to me quickly. The email came from a commenter on a post on one of the several ‘milblogging’ conflict-blogs that I followed a number of years ago. Some of which involved writers, and folks I knew, or areas of the world in which I was somewhat aware, or had colleagues, or friends, or friends of friends who were participating in operations in the area.

Many of them were sad, and often reminded me in many ways of reading about the events involved in the Boer War, as depicted in the Bruce Beresford, 1980 cult classic, “Breaker Morant,” about un-real events in 1901, in South Africa - or Peter Weir’s 1981, “Gallipoli.”

Storytelling about unremarkable specific events in a character’s life that are compelling because they provide an insight into a larger narrative about war, conflict, heroism, empire – and ordinary folks involved in ordinary events who step-up to accomplish extraordinary accomplishments that defy any reasonable explanation.

Through Aber Lenses,” http://throughamberlenses.blogspot.com/, was written by SPC Jordan Shay who was serving as an infantry fireteam leader in the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment in Iraq; placed like Diyala Province.

Shortly after his post, “The Promised ‘Real’ Post,” was published in August 2009, he was killed in action on September 2, 2009. He poignantly left behind, dedicated friends, avid readers who had gotten to know him through his excellent writing, and a loving family and girlfriend.

This reminds one of the great writers that were killed in World War I. Spc. Shay had gifted voice that brought to life the moment by moment otherwise unremarkable daily events that would become a part of greater collage of a war zone – that made sense, because it made no sense.

To be certain, I did not know Spc. Shay, but to be reading his writing, just before his death, quickly became a touchstone that gave you chills and a pause for thought – a trigger event, if you will, for all the folks on the Carroll County Vietnam Memorial that I knew – or knew of through mutual friends and family. Carroll County was much smaller in those days and in many ways, much-much more closely knit.

I learned early in life, by way of writing experiences, leadership events, the Marine Corps, the Vietnam War, advocating for Civil Rights, sports, or binge-reading southern gothic literature; that success in life is hinged upon how well one deals with tragic setbacks, extreme difficulty and abject failure. The unexplained sudden loss, and totally unpredictable random setbacks that seem to have no relationship to how hard you tried.

During the Vietnam War, we did not talk about the war, our military service, or G_d forbid, our feelings. Even those of us, like me, who never deployed and stayed stateside. And we sure as heck did not write about our experience on a website that could be accessed from all over the world. We kept to ourselves to ‘protect ourselves’ against all the folks in society who brandished the peace symbol, burned the flag, and plead for tolerance for their point of view, who heaped scorn upon us.

The post, “The Promised ‘Real’ Post,” is compelling – as are the heartfelt and meaningful comments, for a change, that filled-in many of the missing pieces of the puzzle. One writer wrote, “This is very painful. We writers take loss very hard, especially when one as young as Jordan passes. We realize that he had so little time to share his gift, and regret he didn't get to share more. But these words --what he saw, how he thought, what he felt, will be with the world forever. Writing was part of his legacy…”

We seem to have some sort of primal-programming to accept loss, and move-on quickly. I guess when the dinosaur ate your best friend, you were not going to survive, if you hung around wallowing in grief when the dinosaur choose to chase you for dessert.

Rest in peace brother, your watch is over we will take it from here, you duty is done here, God has your place in heaven.

Or better yet, paraphrased from someone far brighter than me, “God will be merciful to his good soul. Thank you for your service, dedication, and sacrifice. Rest in Peace. Semper Fidelis from an old Marine. Now for the last time, set that weapon down on pods, on the deck of Heaven's chow hall.”

There are no guarantees in life. Every morning I put on the “The Whole Armor of God” God will be merciful to his good soul. Thank you for your service, dedication, and sacrifice. Rest in Peace. Semper Fidelis from an old Marine. Now for the last time, set that weapon down on pods, on the deck of Heaven's chow hall.

10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; 18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints— Ephesians 6: 10-18

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Related:

The last post of 5/20 Milblogger Jordan Shay KIA Iraq Sept 2 2009



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Thank you Jordan for all your work. Rest in peace, your labor is done. We salute you. Your sacrifice will not be forgotten. Kels, let us know if there is anything you need. 

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Amesbury soldier killed in Iraq by Marie Szaniszlo |Friday, September 4, 2009|http://www.bostonherald.com|Local Coverage


A 22-year-old Amesbury soldier was killed this week on his second tour of duty in Iraq, town officials said.

Jordan Shay, an E4 leader in an attack company assigned to the 5th Battalion of the 20th Infantry regiment, was killed Tuesday, said Kristen LaRue, director of veteran’s services.

Details about how Shay was killed have not yet been released. But he belonged to the 3rd Stryker Brigade, based in Fort Lewis, Wash., and was on his third tour of duty, LaRue said.

The day before he was killed was the last time he logged on to his MySpace [website] page, where a clock counting down how many days he had left in the Army is still running.

“Our hearts and our prayers are with the Shay family,” she said. “As a community, we are standing together to assist the family in any way.”

Flags have been lowered to half-staff across town in memory of Shay, who graduated from Amesbury High School in 2005.



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Friday, September 04, 2009


At times he must have been no more than two hundred feet from me, but I never had the privilege to meet Jordan Shay. Together we chewed up the most inhospitable terrain on earth, and back on Ft. Lewis, we worked daily in the same dilapidated Korean War era barracks. The only connection I shared with Jordan was through the comments section of his blog, which I keep linked on the top of the page under our unit crest. Though our companies faced a heated inter-battalion rivalry, Attack Company was always in the thick of combat with my company, Battle. They shouldered a far greater burden than us, sustaining eight KIAs to our two. Jordan, at 22 years old, saw more combat than a lot of crusty old vets before he could legally buy a beer. For his third combat tour with the 3rd Stryker Brigade, Jordan started a blog to chronicle his experience. He named it Through Amber Lenses, the color of his sunglasses. He wanted to explain to the world what he saw with a bright amber tint.

What I read when I checked his most recent comment section hit me straight in the gut. "RIP Jordan." I rushed to the DoD announcement page and found nothing. Through a Google search I confirmed my worst fear: Jordan Shay, 22 years young, killed in Iraq.


Be sure to check out Spc. Jordan Shay’s blog: http://throughamberlenses.blogspot.com/

Here, pasted below, I want to preserve his last post:

Be sure to go here: http://tinyurl.com/ncujtm   http://throughamberlenses.blogspot.com/2009/08/promised-real-post.html to read the comments – and perhaps say a few words of thanks and condolences.  Keep his family and Kels in your prayers as you enjoy Labor Day, brought to you by the sacrifice of Spc Shay and too many others like him…

2009 (16)
August (7)
July (3)
June (4)
May (2)

20090905 sdsom last post 5 20 Milblogger Jordan KIA Sept 2 2009

http://twitpic.com/glk1a The last post of 5/20 Milblogger Jordan Shay KIA Iraq Sept 2 2009 http://tinyurl.com/njusfk



Be sure to go here http://throughamberlenses.blogspot.com/ leave TY & condolences http://tinyurl.com/ncujtm

Keep his family & Kels n your prayers as you enjoy Labor Day brought 2 you by t sacrifice of men & women n uniform


20090904_ArmyofDudesmokebannerfinal
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Saturday, December 05, 2015

The short version of my remarks this morning at the Opening ceremonies for the 62nd St. John Catholic Church Christmas Bazaar


This is the short version of my remarks this morning at the Opening ceremonies for the 62nd St. John Catholic Church Christmas Bazaar December 5, 2015 at 8:00 am

By Baltimore Sun writer Kevin E. Dayhoff, the former mayor of Westminster from 2001-2005

This year the bazaar is open from 8:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
43 Monroe Street, Westminster, MD 21157

Good morning. On behalf of Westminster’s past and present elected officials, I would like to welcome you to the 62nd consecutive St. John Christmas Bazaar.

For the past 12-years I have been a journalist at the Baltimore Sun writing mostly history. At my age I am greatly amused that many events that took place in my childhood are now studied as history by today’s school children.

I look forward to the Christmas bazaar every year. When I was very young, the bazaar was part of a family adventure during the Christmas season.

During my high school years from 1969 through 1971, I often attended Mass at St. John with a good friend. I recall when the last Mass was held on February 4, 1968 at the church building on Main Street in town.

Last year when my wife Caroline and I were enjoying lunch at the bazaar with Mary Mussari, I was pleased when John Bryan asked me to speak at this year’s opening. Mr. Bryan told me that recently the ceremony has been dedicated to our servicemen and women – - and that this year we are paying a special recognition to Vietnam Vets.

It was just a few short weeks ago that our community came together to observe Veterans Day. No community does it better than Carroll County.

I served stateside in the United States Marine Corps Reserve from 1971 to 1973. Although I was not deployed, it has remained a sobering event in my life to have stepped-up the plate, despite a high draft number, signed on the dotted line, and
volunteered to serve during the Vietnam War.

This year, schools set the example for all of Carroll County by commemorating Veterans Day with many thoughtful, and well-planned services and programs.

In recent years Veterans Day has turned more somber. In the past, much of the community came together to celebrate the end of World War One and World War Two, and the Korean War.

Much of the nation saw nothing to celebrate for decades after the end of the Vietnam War. The war had dragged-on for over 19 years - for what seemed an eternity.

After the United States ended its direct involvement in the war on August 15, 1973, veterans were treated with scorn by the American left that proudly heaped insult upon injury upon those who served during the war.

Thankfully, the current youngest generation has seen fit to honor its veterans that have served proudly in the first and second Gulf Wars – and they treat Vietnam veterans with great dignity and respect.

Over 2.7 million Americans served in the Vietnam War. The average age was 19. Of that number, 300,000 were wounded in action, and 75,000 were disabled.

It has been estimated that almost 5 million military personnel and civilians, from all sides, lost their life in the Vietnam War. Of the 58,200 names listed on the Vietnam Memorial Wall in Washington DC, 1,046 are Marylanders who made the ultimate sacrifice.

Although many Vietnam era vets still harbor a deep-seated resentment as to how we were treated, the manner in which we are treated by the youngest generation brings tears to our eyes and has gone a long way to heal the wounds of decades of being abused and ignored.

Today, we pay a special tribute to the eighteen fallen heroes from Carroll County, whose faces are etched in the black granite monument in the Vietnam Memorial Park on Willis Street that was dedicated on May 28, 1990.

We hold dear in our hearts the eighteen names: Ronald Kenny; Christopher Miller, Jr.; Carl Egolf; James Byers; Russell Amoss; Russell Milberry; Everett Justice, Jr.; Michael Kidd; John Feezer; Sherman Flanagan, Jr.; Muriel Groomes; Joseph Oreto; Frederick Magsamen; Franklin Underwood, Jr.; James Zumbrun; Joseph Blickenstaff, Jr.; David Steger; and Herbert Mulkey, Jr.

The faces of the eighteen names on the monument are frozen in time. Some we knew. Some we didn’t. But they were all someone’s son or father or brother or uncle – or a cherished childhood friend. Their faces have been silent for many years, but they all have a story to tell.

Today it is only right to recall the profound words from Ephesians, “Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil, and be armed with the power of the Spirit, so that we may continue to make the Gospel understandable to those of us, who after many years, still have unanswered questions…”

God Bless and Semper Fi to all our brothers and sisters in uniform that served and died to protect our freedoms - and cannot attend the bazaar. Thank you for having me speak with you today. It was an honor. 
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Dayhoff presentations, Dayhoff writing essays, Religion St John Catholic Ch, Dayhoff writing essays Vietnam, Military Vietnam, Annual Christmas, #KED, #partylikeajournalist,

This is the short version of my remarks for the opening ceremonies for the 62nd St. John Catholic Church Christmas Bazaar December 5, 2015 at 8:00 am http://kevindayhoffart.blogspot.com/2015/12/the-short-version-of-my-remarks-this.html





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Kevin Earl Dayhoff Art www.kevindayhoff.com: Travel, art, artists, authors, books, newspapers, media, writers and writing, journalists and journalism, reporters and reporting, music, culture, opera... Ad maiorem Dei gloriam inque hominum salutem. “Deadline U.S.A.” 1952. Ed Hutcheson: “That's the press, baby. The press! And there's nothing you can do about it. Nothing!” - See more at: http://kevindayhoffart.blogspot.com/#sthash.4HNLwtfd.dpuf

Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Famed Vietnam combat photographer Catherine Leroy was in Vietnam from Feb 1966 to March of 1969.



Famed Vietnam combat photographer Catherine Leroy was in Vietnam from Feb 1966 to March of 1969.

Kevin E. Dayhoff, August 18, 2015 www.kevindayhoff.net

I was recently reminded of the legendary combat photographer Catherine Leroy. I was not aware that she had died… She died unexpectedly July 8, 2006.

According to a tribute to her written by Jay Defoore and published in Popular Photography on December 19, 2008, “Leroy first arrived in Saigon in February of 1966 without ever having published a photo. She had in her possession a Leica M2 and a mere $100. Just 21 years of age, she had no formal photographic training and had never been more than a few hundred miles from Paris. Through pluck and luck, she would go on to become the most famous female war photographer of the Vietnam era.

The standard rate for a Vietnam photograph that moved on the wire in those days was $15.00 per photograph. She had many of her photos published in Look and Life.

She was the stuff of legend with Marines. She spent a great deal of time in theater with Marines.

According to her obituary by Phil Davidson that ran in The Independent on Monday, July 17, 2006, “She was the first newsperson, male or female, to parachute into combat with US forces, and the first to photograph the Vietcong behind their own lines after she was captured during the Tet offensive but charmed her way to freedom. When she was wounded by a mortar round, she believed it would have killed her had her sturdy Nikon F2 not stopped the biggest piece of shrapnel.

In that story, retold by Defoore, “Leroy's legend was only aided by her independent spirit and resilience. On May 19, 1967, Leroy was injured by a mortar while on patrol with a group of Marines. "We were being mortared again and again, and there was nowhere to hide," she recounted to American Photographer. ‘I remember lifting my camera up to take a picture when there was a huge bang and I went down in the grass. I was conscious but couldn't move, and I was completely covered with blood -- and terrified that nobody would see me because I was covered by grass.’

“A month after suffering the worst of the mortar round, Leroy was back to tackling some of the most dangerous stories imaginable. In January of the next year Leroy and fellow French journalist Francois Mazure were captured by the North Vietnamese and she photographed her captors for a cover story in Life magazine.”

Many of her photographs have iconographic of the war in Southeast Asia. First among equals was ““Corpsman in anguish,” in which Corpsman Vernon Wike, 2/3rd Marine, looks in anguish when he realizes that his buddy is dead. Battle for Hill 881. 1967

According to her obituary by Phil Davidson that ran in The Independent on Monday, July 17, 2006, “Her most famous pictures were three shot in quick succession, but without a motor-drive, showing a young US marine corpsman (medic), Vernon Wike, crouched in tall grass in 1967 during the battle for Hill 881 near Khe Sanh. He is cradling a comrade who had just been shot by a Vietcong guerrilla.

In the first frame, Wike, still smoking the cigarette he had lit before the shooting, has both hands on his buddy's chest, trying to staunch the wound. In the second, he is trying to detect a heartbeat. In the third, perhaps her most famous, image, known as Corpsman in Anguish, he has just realised his buddy is dead. Leroy later recalled that Wike then ran from cover, shooting and yelling, ‘I'm gonna kill them all!’ He survived.”

Leroy remained in Vietnam until March of 1969.

According to Defoore, “Leroy's sudden death -- many of her closest friends didn't even know she was sick -- has left many unanswered questions, such as what will become of her vast collection of negatives…”
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Saturday, April 04, 2015

This day in history:

We Remember: Five DIA employees killed in Operation Babylift
By DIA History Office | April 04, 2015



On Apr. 4, 1975, five Defense Intelligence Agency employees – Celeste Brown, Vivienne Clark, Dorothy Curtiss, Joan Pray and Doris Watkins – lost their lives trying to save the lives of Vietnamese infants and children fleeing Saigon in Operation Babylift. Read more: http://www.dia.mil/News/Articles/ArticleView/tabid/11448/Article/583538/we-remember-five-dia-employees-killed-in-operation-babylift.aspx

We Remember: “Five DIA employees killed in Operation Babylift” By DIA History Office April 04, 2015 http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/2015/04/this-day-in-history-we-remember-five.html
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Friday, March 06, 2015

March 1-8, 1965: US sending Marines to South Vietnam


March 1-8, 1965: US sending Marines to South Vietnam


Article Details: U.S. IS SENDING MARINES TO SOUTH VIETNAM
Author History.com Staff Website Name History.com Year Published 2009
Title U.S. is sending Marines to South Vietnam URL http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/u-s-is-sending-marines-to-south-vietnam Access Date March 06, 2015 Publisher A+E Networks

According to March 6, 2015 article, “US sending Marines to South Vietnam,” in the “This Day in History” series on the History.com website; on this day, “The White House confirms reports that, at the request of South Vietnam, the United States is sending two battalions of U.S. Marines for security work at the Da Nang air base, which will hopefully free South Vietnamese troops for combat.

“On March 1, Ambassador Maxwell Taylor informed South Vietnamese Premier Phan Huy Quat that the United States was preparing to send 3,500 U.S. Marines to Vietnam.

“Three days later, a formal request was submitted by the U.S. Embassy, asking the South Vietnamese government to “invite” the United States to send the Marines. Premier Quat, a mere figurehead, had to obtain approval from the real power, Gen. Nguyen Van Thieu, chief of the Armed Forces Council.

“Thieu approved, but asked that the Marines be “brought ashore in the most inconspicuous way feasible.”

“The Marines began landing near Da Nang on March 8,” 1965.

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It did not take long before it was apparent that the Marines were not going to stay confined to “for security work at the Da Nang air base, which will hopefully free South Vietnamese troops for combat.”

And by November 1965 it was painfully apparent we were in over our heads and really did not know what we doing. In the middle of the 34-day Ia Drang campaign, (Operation Silver Bayonet, Pleiku Campaign 1965) from November 14-18, 1965, elements of the 5th and 7th U.S. Calvary Regiment went deep into enemy territory in the Ia Drang Valley and met up with units of the North Vietnamese 33rd and 66th Regiments essentially commanded by the renown Lt. Colonel Nguyn An that had just arrived off the Ho Chi Minh trail.

Nguyn, a favorite battle commander of North Vietnamese General Vo Nguyen Giap, had been fighting since September 1945 in the First Indochina War and was to go on to fight continuously through the end of the 2nd Indochina War in the 1975 ‘Spring Offensive,’ ‘Ho Chi Minh Campaign,’ and the final assault on Saigon which ended when he is reported, according to folklore, to have personally planted the North Vietnamese battle flag on the top of Independence Palace at 11:30 a.m. on April 30, 1975.

Up until November 1965 about 1,100 American military personnel had died in Vietnam. By the end of that November another 545 were killed. 305 from the Ia Drang campaign alone…

I think that this is where I will leave it for now. I think that I will work on this and develop it into a future column for my Eagle Archives series in the Baltimore Sun - http://www.baltimoresun.com/search/dispatcher.front?Query=Kevin+Dayhoff&target=all
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Center hosts annual event to celebrate farming in Carroll County [Eagle Archives]
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KEVIN E. DAYHOFF
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Volunteer fire companies truly a valued asset in the county
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KEVIN E. DAYHOFF
The first mention of a fire department in what we now know as Carroll County was in 1808 when the Maryland General Assembly "passed an act authorizing the raising of money by lottery to pay for a fire engine?"
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KEVIN E. DAYHOFF
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Carroll County's connection to Greece [Eagle Archives]
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KEVIN. E. DAYHOFF
Several weeks ago, Westminster was the focal point of a distinguished assembly of Greek families as folks from all over the country came to town to celebrate the life of Zoe Amprazis Sirinakis, 85, who died on Dec. 29.
Sergeant major's appointment brings attention of Annapolis to Carroll County
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KEVIN. E. DAYHOFF
On Jan. 21, the adjutant general of Maryland, Brig. Gen. Linda Singh, announced that she had appointed Command Sgt. Maj. Thomas Beyard, of Westminster, to be the senior enlisted leader of the Maryland National Guard, its top enlisted position.











Carroll County's new leaders share more than priority of public safety [Eagle Archives]
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KEVIN. E. DAYHOFF
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KEVIN DAYHOFF
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Underlining surveyors' contribution to Carroll County's history [Eagle Archives]
Underlining surveyors' contribution to Carroll County's history [Eagle Archives]
KEVIN E. DAYHOFF
For this year's event, which was scheduled for Jan. 17, the topic was the history of the county's northern border, the storied, celebrated and, at times, vilified Mason Dixon Line.
New year begins with familiar faces missing from county leadership [Column]
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KEVIN E. DAYHOFF
On April 24, Carroll County's chief of staff, Steve Powell, retired from county government. He started worked for the county in October 1985 as a budget officer.
It's beginning to look a lot like . . . pickle ornaments? [Eagle Archives}
It's beginning to look a lot like . . . pickle ornaments? [Eagle Archives}
KEVIN E. DAYHOFF
At the Carroll County Farm Museum holiday house tour and open house on Dec. 5, museum volunteer Michele Crew distributed glass pickles to the volunteers in attendance. I have a very vague recollection of hearing about a glass pickle Christmas tree ornament while growing-up in Carroll County.
A love story that began on New Year's Eve, 1945 [Eagle Archives]
A love story that began on New Year's Eve, 1945 [Eagle Archives]
KEVIN E. DAYHOFF
Much of the time, history can be the dry stuff of names and facts or memorized dates found in textbooks. Nothing can bring history alive more than our own memories or growing up listening to the recollections of our parents or grandparents.
Celebrating Grace Lutheran Church's growth and history in Westminster
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KEVIN DAYHOFF
... church's commitment to Westminster — and was, in part, initiated by the husband and wife team of Pastors Martha and Kevin Clementson, who have led the congregation since December 2007. The rededication service on Sept. 14 will be officiated by ...
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KEVIN DAYHOFF
More than 60 years ago, the Route 140 "Roadside Picnic Area and Community Fish Pond" was dedicated with great fanfare by then-Gov. Theodore R. McKeldin during a Saturday program that began at 2 p.m. and lasted all afternoon.
Westminster mayor remembered [Eagle Archives]
Westminster mayor remembered [Eagle Archives]
KEVIN E. DAYHOFF
Many historians would agree with state Sen. Joe Getty, a local historian, who wrote, "Researching local business histories is difficult and challenging. Sources for such information are generally scarce and incomplete?"
Assassinated McKinley ought to be remembered [Eagle Archives]
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KEVIN E. DAYHOFF
He was shot twice before a Hispanic African-American, James Parker, stopped the shooting. McKinley died eight days later at 2:15 a.m. Sat., Sept. 14, 1901.
Stunning results and negative attacks in November [Eagle Archives]
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KEVIN E. DAYHOFF
On Nov. 10, the headline on a prominent local newspaper read, "A Splendid Victory for the Right!" for an article that analyzed the results from the recent election results. Several weeks have gone by and folks are still talking about the Nov.
Consider chilled treat as weather begins to cool [Eagle Archives]
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KEVIN E. DAYHOFF
Much of the discussion about the 250th anniversary of the City of Westminster has emphasized the early establishment of the retail stores, restaurants and hotels in town that provided goods and services for the steady stream of settlers who were traveling west.
Honoring a legacy of service to community and country [Eagle Archives]
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KEVIN E. DAYHOFF
It was an eerie juxtaposition in Westminster on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Participants were making their final preparations for marching in the annual Westminster Christmas parade ? "Miracle on Main Street.
Nov. 15 5k honors memory of Terry Burk and Sam Case [Eagle Archives]
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KEVIN E. DAYHOFF
Since 2003, the event, which is sponsored by the Westminster Road Runners Club, has been held in honor of the memory of Terry Burk, who was struck by a car and killed on Aug. 10, 1995, while jogging with his friends, Dave Roush, Don Myers, and Dave Herlocker, on Route 97 at Kalten Road.

While enjoying a pot-luck lunch served at the Taylorsville United Methodist Church after a Sept. 14 Homecoming service, the subject of the life and times and history of Dr. J. Francis Crawford came up during a conversation with Bill Knill and the church's historian, Steve Bittner, Jr.

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