Orlando Wall that Heals Ceremony forgot about own Medal of Honor Hero

The Wall That Heals, traveling Vietnam Memorial Wall, is in Orlando at Lake Eola but few knew it is here. The turnout was very small for the ceremony this morning. Several news crews were there but so far, I have not seen any of the reports.

There was something else missing from today and that was the omission of our local hero Cpl. Larry Smedley.

The President of the United States in the name of The Congress takes pride in presenting the MEDAL OF HONOR posthumously to
CORPORAL LARRY E. SMEDLEY
UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS
for service as set forth in the following CITATION:
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a squad leader with Company D, First Battalion, Seventh Marines, First Marine Division, in connection with operations against the enemy in the Republic of Vietnam.

On the evenings of 20–21 December 1967, Corporal Smedley led his six-man squad to an ambush site at the mouth of Happy Valley, near Phouc Ninh (2) in Quang Nam Province. Later that night, an estimated 100 Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army Regulars, carrying 122 mm rocket launchers and mortars, were observed moving toward Hill 41.

Realizing this was a significant enemy move to launch an attack on the vital Danang complex, Corporal Smedley immediately took sound and courageous action to stop the enemy threat. After he radioed for a reaction force, he skillfully maneuvered his men to a more advantageous position and led an attack on the numerically superior enemy force. A heavy volume of fire from an enemy machine gun positioned on the left flank of the squad inflicted several casualties on Corporal Smedley's unit. Simultaneously, an enemy rifle grenade exploded nearby, wounding him in the right foot and knocking him to the ground.

Corporal Smedley disregarded this serious injury and valiantly struggled to his feet, shouting words of encouragement to his men. He fearlessly led a charge against the enemy machine gun emplacement, firing his rifle and throwing grenades until he was again struck by enemy fire and knocked to the ground. Gravely wounded and weak from loss of blood, he rose and commenced a one-man assault against the enemy position. Although his aggressive and singlehanded attack resulted in the destruction of the machine gun, he was struck in the chest by enemy fire and fell mortally wounded.

Corporal Smedley's inspiring and courageous actions, bold initiative, and selfless devotion to duty in the face of certain death were in keeping with the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the United States Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.[2]

Behind the Wall, behind the speakers and the audience were several pieces from the Museum but no one thought to talk about Larry.

'Forgotten' soldier remembered at Wall that Heals

'Forgotten' soldier remembered at Wall that Heals

BY LAURA LEGERE (STAFF WRITER)
Published: October 10, 2011

Charlie Boylan worked for years to bring Jimmy Reddington back from obscurity.

A solider killed at 19 in Vietnam, Marine Lance Cpl. James T. Reddington seemed lost to history decades after his death except for the pair of fellow Marines who visited his grave at Cathedral Cemetery. Then Mr. Boylan tirelessly tracked down a constellation of friends and brought them together to remember him, first in 2009 and again in the years since.

On Sunday, at the Wall That Heals, a half-scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial visiting Nay Aug Park, Mr. Boylan's efforts were rewarded by the several people who stopped by Cpl. Reddington's name and paused to think of him.

"Did you know Jimmy?" Vince Fitch, a former schoolmate, asked when he saw Andy and Sharon Kitch looking at Cpl. Reddington as a boy in a Central City Little League photo propped by his name.

They did. Both Mr. and Mrs. Kitch went to school with him in Scranton and remembered his swagger and charm. Cpl. Reddington's sister had stitched together the halves of two pairs of pants for her brother, so the front of the new pair was green and the back blue, Mr. Kitch remembered.
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Fort Carson giving Vietnam vets their due

Fort Carson giving Vietnam vets their due

June 08, 2011 3:17 PM


Read more: http://www.gazette.com/articles/fort-119472-vietnam-carson.html#ixzz1Onett6Cw

TOM ROEDER
THE GAZETTE
Bill Walsh peered at black panes of steel Wednesday morning, looking for a friend from the 198th Infantry Brigade.

Other men nearby found their buddies and cried.

As Fort Carson marks 50 years since the first American troops headed to war in Vietnam, veterans gathered outside the post’s main gate to mourn at a traveling replica of the Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial. Called “The Wall That Heals”, the memorial carries more than 58,000 names of troops killed or still missing from the war.

“I’m going to get upset, I always do,” said burly but graying Bruce Draper, a retired Army chief warrant officer who served as a helicopter crew chief in Vietnam during 1969.

For Draper and Walsh, the exhibit, open to the public from dawn to dusk through Friday, gives them a chance to pause and mourn youthful friendships ended by America’s most controversial war.

“I was in a straight leg infantry outfit,” Walsh said, recalling the heat, the land mines and the friendships formed under fire.

“I’m not a hero, these guys are,” Draper said gesturing to the 58,000 names.



Read more: Fort Carson giving Vietnam vets their due

Leo students see faces of war

Leo students see faces of war
Vietnam Memorial replica coming to school.
By Sarah Janssen
The lights switched off and a photo was projected on the wall of a group of men, Vietnam veterans, most with thick hair and mustaches.

“Which one was shot in the leg four times?” asked one student. His history teacher at Leo Junior-Senior High School, Mike Lance, pointed to the photo. “This guy,” he said.

On Friday, Lance finished the Vietnam War lecture he began earlier this week to the seventh-grade class.

Teachers at Leo have incorporated the war into English and history lessons throughout the week to prepare students for the arrival of a traveling half-size replica of the Vietnam War Memorial wall called the Wall That Heals and the accompanying Agent Orange Quilt of Tears. Both honor veterans who died in the war or from complications and injuries from the war.

See exhibit

♦The Wall That Heals and the Agent Orange Quilt of Tears will be on display 24 hours a day 6 p.m. Wednesday-dusk Sunday at Leo Junior-Senior High School, 14600 Amstutz Road.

♦The Wall That Heals will be in the south lot of Leo and the Agent Orange Quilt of Tears will be in the front entryway of the school.

♦An opening ceremony honoring local fallen soldiers will be at 6 p.m. Wednesday.

♦A traveling museum and information center will be available.

Leo students see faces of war

Stolen Valor or something else

We can't be sure what is going on right now or what was behind it. Why would anyone in their right mind want to do something like this especially when it involves something so soul reaching it can cause even the hardest hearts to weep? This is about the Traveling Wall and Vietnam, men and women treated like crap, but never gave up on us. They served with strangers they ended up living with as family. This is about Vietnam veterans honoring the lives lost and lives forgotten but someone is now accused to pretending to be one of them with the wall itself? I hope this gets cleared up fast because there will be more pain laid on the hearts of the Vietnam veterans for each day this goes on.

Stolen Valor and the "Wall That Heals"
by Larry Stimeling, Staff Writer
James Richard Lyons is a hero. He joined the Navy in 1964 at age 17. James went through some of the military' most rigorous training schools, including;
SEAL Training.
Force Recon.
Jungle Warfare Training in Panama.
Special weapons in Quantico. James served 4 tours in Vietnam and attained the rank of GySgt. He received a Silver Star and a Purple Heart. That is a lot for a four year enlistment. But there is a problem, A BIG PROBLEM!
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A solemn salute in Lynn

This brought back a lot of memories for me living in Massachusetts. I started writing into the Item, Letters to the Editor so many years ago, it's hard to remember most of them. Some of my fondest memories as going to Fraser field and see the traveling Wall come into the city. So many veterans from all wars gathering together among a sea of citizens holding flags and generations of families making sure the young never forget that all they have and enjoy came with a price. Mothers explained to young children what the names meant. Old veterans teary eyed standing in front of it an knowing full well what it meant as they remembered their own brothers long gone from this earth but not from their hearts.

Great sadness comes over me when I know that feeling, as deep as it is, for those who have not served, fade away so easily. They go home, go about their own lives, and forget all about how they felt standing in front of that black wall. So few in this country know what happened to the men and women that came home because of the over 58,000 names they see. Maybe their hearts just can't take more and knowing how many died because of Agent Orange or suicides or homelessness, would just be too much to take in. I don't know why people may be transformed for an hour or so and then just move on, but I am grateful these people bother to show up. Too many others don't.

To Thor in case you read this,,,wow do I miss my city! I've been home 9 times in 5 years.

A solemn salute in Lynn


By Thor Jourgensen / The Daily Item

LYNN - "This makes you understand," said Kenneth Mailloux Thursday night, minutes after he joined other loved ones in presenting a wreath in memory of his uncle, John, at The Wall That Heals on Fraser Field.

Mailloux and the relatives of 18 other Lynn residents who lost their lives in the Vietnam War saluted their brothers, son, uncles and nephews Thursday evening as an appreciative crowd applauded.

The two-hour event began with the posting of the colors and ended with a bagpiper playing as he slowly walked the length of the 250-foot, half-sized version of the Vietnam Memorial in Washington D.C. "Some of my men are on that wall," said Vietnam veteran and North Shore Community College President Wayne Burton as he watched the wreath-laying ceremony that included a presentation by Colleen Piper and Marblehead veterans in honor of the late Christopher Piper.

Medal of Honor recipient and state Veterans Services Secretary Thomas Kelley said the wall is a salute to courage and sacrifice.
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http://www.thedailyitemoflynn.com/articles/2009/08/28/news/news01.txt

Medal of Honor for Thomas Kelley
Medal of Honor




KELLEY, THOMAS G.



Rank and organization: Lieutenant Commander, U.S. Navy, River Assault Division



Place and date: Ong Muong Canal, Kien Hoa Province, Republic of Vietnam, 15 June 1969



Entered service at: Boston, Massachusetts



Born: 13 May 1939, Boston, Massachusetts



Citation:



For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty in the afternoon while serving as commander of River Assault Division 152 during combat operations against enemy aggressor forces. Lt. Comdr. (then Lt.) Kelley was in charge of a column of 8 river assault craft which were extracting 1 company of U.S. Army infantry troops on the east bank of the Ong Muong Canal in Kien Hoa Province, when 1 of the armored troop carriers reported a mechanical failure of a loading ramp.
At approximately the same time, Viet Cong forces opened fire from the opposite bank of the canal. After issuing orders for the crippled troop carrier to raise its ramp manually, and for the remaining boats to form a protective cordon around the disabled craft, Lt. Comdr. Kelley realizing the extreme danger to his column and its inability to clear the ambush site until the crippled unit was repaired, boldly maneuvered the monitor in which he was embarked to the exposed side of the protective cordon in direct line with the enemy's fire, and ordered the monitor to commence firing.
Suddenly, an enemy rocket scored a direct hit on the coxswain's flat, the shell penetrating the thick armor plate, and the explosion spraying shrapnel in all directions. Sustaining serious head wounds from the blast, which hurled him to the deck of the monitor, Lt. Comdr. Kelley disregarded his severe injuries and attempted to continue directing the other boats. Although unable to move from the deck or to speak clearly into the radio, He succeeded in relaying his commands through 1 of his men until the enemy attack was silenced and the boats were able to move to an area of safety.
Lt. Comdr. Kelley's brilliant leadership, bold initiative, and resolute determination served to inspire his men and provide the impetus needed to carry out the mission after he was medically evacuated by helicopter. His extraordinary courage under fire, and his selfless devotion to duty sustain and enhance the finest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service.
http://www.mishalov.com/Kelley.html

Fundraising begins for Washington ‘Wall That Heals’ project

Fundraising begins for Washington ‘Wall That Heals’ project




Half-scale Vietnam memorial will visit city in April 2010
By KEVIN SCOTT CUTLER
Lifestyles & Features Editor
Published: Thursday, June 4, 2009 2:20 AM EDT
Vietnam veteran and Washington resident George H. Schryer is getting closer to realizing his dream of bringing a special part of American history to Beaufort County.

Schryer, who was in the Air Force, is leading the movement to have The Wall That Heals — a half-scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C. — brought to the original Washington. It’s part of his efforts to ensure that America’s service men and women are not forgotten.

“The statue memorializes the more than 58,000 men and women who were killed during the 10-year-long Vietnam War,” Schryer said.

The traveling memorial is owned and operated by the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, a private, nonprofit organization, Schryer explained.

Plans are now in place to display the memorial in Washington April 22-25, 2010.

“I have been wanting to do this for quite some time,” said Schryer, who is incoming commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 6088 in Washington and District II Commander. “I couldn’t get all the pieces to fit, and we had to find the right location.”
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Fundraising for Wall That Heals

The Wall That Heals in Johnson City TN

The Wall That Heals
Bristol Herald Courier - Bristol,TN,USA
By Mac McLean
Reporter / Bristol Herald Courier
Published: June 3, 2009

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – Support for Parkinson’s disease sufferers blended perfectly with a desire to honor America’s veterans Tuesday as 300 motorcycles escorted The Wall That Heals to Freedom Hall’s Liberty Bell track.

Among the bikers was Mike Johnston of Bristol, Tenn., a veteran who has Parkinson’s and, as a member of the Northeast Tennessee Parkinson’s Disease Support Group has traveled more than 23,000 miles on his bike to champion efforts to find a cure.

“There’s a lot of days I can’t ride because the tremors are so bad, but other days I can ride as good as I ever could,” Johnston said. And being a part of Tuesday’s procession was a good day, he could ride and champion both of his causes: his fellow veterans and his desire to find a cure for Parkinson’s disease.

The Wall That Heals is a half-scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial that sits on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The half-scale version travels the country, giving people a chance to pay their respects to those who died in the Vietnam War, said Richard “Gunny” Lyons with the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund.

“This is for people who can’t get to Washington,” Lyons said, adding that The Wall That Heals can attract crowds of 4,000 to 10,000 people when it is on display.

It also brings large escorts of motorcycle riders organized by veteran’s support groups, including Rolling Thunder.
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