U.S. Marine Gunnery Sgt. Enrique Valdez added to The Wall

May 6th, 2009
Name added to Vietnam Memorial helps family heal old wounds
Posted: 04:33 PM ET
From Paul Courson
CNN

WASHINGTON (CNN) — It was 40 years ago this summer that U.S. Marine Gunnery Sgt. Enrique Valdez was nearly killed by shrapnel in Vietnam, and 15 years ago that he died from wounds suffered that August in 1969.

His name is the latest on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, added Tuesday to “The Wall,” after the Defense Department concluded his status matched the criteria to be included on the panels. After being wounded in Vietnam at the age of 32, Valdez spent the rest of his life as a quadriplegic. The shrapnel had cut his spinal cord. When he died of pneumonia in 1994, bureaucratic delays seemed to rule out he might be recognized for his service to the country.

His family worked for years to have his name added to the memorial, and the notification finally came — but without explanation from the Defense Department. Wednesday, smiling and pointing to the fresh lettering on Panel 17, she told CNN, “I never got a response, but it’s okay, because his name is here!”

Enrique Valdez joins 58,260 other names listed on the Vietnam Memorial, and his is the only name added under 1969, for combat deaths that year or later deaths from injuries sustained in combat that year.
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