Community Corner

Group Seeks Info about Riverside County Servicemen Killed in Action in Vietnam

A total of 58,286 airmen, soldiers, sailors and Marines from the United States and its territories were killed in Vietnam, according to the U.S. National Archives. California had the highest number of deaths - 5,575.

A group working to build an education center adjacent to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., say they are missing stories, photographs and other details on more than three dozen servicemen from Riverside County who were killed in the Vietnam War.

A total of 109 county residents are listed as killed in action on documents maintained by the federal government.

The nonprofit Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund is attempting to collect as much biographical information as possible on veterans for the future Education Center at The Wall, which is moving toward its first phase of construction.

Organizers hoped that by Veterans Day 2014, they would be able to fill in the information gaps on soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines who made the ultimate sacrifice.

To date, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund still lacks stories and photos related to nearly 26,000 men killed during the nearly 13-year war.

California has the highest number of individuals with no information - 2,733. Thirty-nine lacking back-stories are from Riverside County.

They were identified as:

- Terry James Allen, private, Army, of Indio

- Vincent Joseph Benegas, lance corporal, Marines, of Riverside

- Gerald William Bayles, sergeant, Army, of Indio

- Melvin Hubbard Conner Jr., lance corporal, Marines, of Riverside

- Michael Dean Cook, private, Marines, of Rubidoux

- Michael Patrick Damon, corporal, Army, of Sunnymead

- Francisco Pena Delgado, corporal, Army, of Coachella

- Leslie Allen Devers Jr., lance corporal, Marines, of Riverside

- Edwin Raymond Eason, captain, Air Force, of Blythe

- Edward Angiano Escobar, specialist, Army, of Coachella

- Stephen Dale Facchini, private, Marines, of Riverside

- Michael Don Ferguson, specialist, Army, of Riverside

- Luis Martin Gonsalez, private, Marines, of Perris

- Dennis Nye Hudson, corporal, Army, of Riverside

- Chester Lee Jackson, private, Army, of Riverside

- Gene Douglas Killgore, lance corporal, Marines, of Blythe

- Edward Gerard Mathern, private, Army, of Corona

- Thomas Eugene McKee, corporal, Marines, of Palm Springs

- Marvin Ray Miller, corporal, Army, of Riverside

- Dennis Eugene Monfils, private, Marines, of Riverside

- Dennis Eugene Moore, private, Army, of Riverside

- Donald Martin Munden, private, Army, of Quail Valley

- Henry Pasillas, specialist, Army, of Riverside

- Frank Brennan Parish, lance corporal, Marines, of Riverside

- Dennis Dale Reed, private, Army, of Palm Springs

- Edward Robert Raymond III, lance corporal, Marines, of Riverside

- Darwin Bruce Ridenhour, staff sergeant, Army, of Riverside

- Phillip Willard Roe, lance corporal, Marines, of Riverside

- Gary Lee Saxton, lance corporal, Marines, of Cathedral City

- Gaylord James Sebens, private, Army, of Riverside

- Gerald Blaine Singleton, staff sergeant, Army, of Indio

- Carl Roy Smead, private, Army, of Thermal

- Joseph Lamar Stone, specialist, Army, of Desert Hot Springs

- Philip Stanley Strand Jr. corporal, Marines, of Riverside

- Kenneth Wayne Tingle, specialist, Army, of Mira Loma

- Joseph Trejo Jr., private, Marines, of Corona

- Richard Elzie Veach, specialist, Army, of Riverside

- Howard Gregory Webster, private, Army, of Riverside

- Patrick Lee Wood, lance corporal, Marines, of Riverside

"We are losing Vietnam veterans at an alarmingly fast rate," said Jan Scruggs, president and founder of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial  Fund. "Each day, we lose about 390 to illness and age. Their stories are in danger of being lost forever if we don't take action now to ensure they become a part of our collective national memory."

A total of 58,286 airmen, soldiers, sailors and Marines from the United States and its territories were killed, according to the U.S. National Archives. California had the highest number of deaths - 5,575.

More than 1,600 servicemen remain unaccounted for, according to the Department of Defense.

The 35,000-square-foot Education Center at The Wall will include profiles of American wars and the people who fought them, beginning with the Revolutionary War and ending with Afghanistan. The largest platform will be dedicated to Vietnam.

According to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund website, the effort is about "giving a face to the faceless," referring to the 494-foot granite wall that lists the names of military members who died.

Many of the 400,000 items of tribute and memorabilia that have been left at the wall since its dedication in November 1982 will be on display inside the education center. But according to supporters, letters, snapshots and narratives that fill in the blanks about thousands of servicemen are needed.

To submit a photo or story for the project, visit
http://www.buildthecenter.vvmf.org/pages/faces-never-forgotten-campaign.

Monetary donations for the education center can be made at
https://donate.vvmf.org/page/contribute/donate-to-the-education-center.

Reported by City News Service in Riverside


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