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thedrifter
05-12-03, 07:42 PM
Six names added to Vietnam Veterans Memorial

By Jonathan D. Salant
ASSOCIATED PRESS
8:03 a.m., May 12, 2003


WASHINGTON – When Colleen Joyce Pontes' child is old enough, she plans to tell the youngster about the grandfather who gave his life for his country.

She'll talk about how he volunteered to serve in the Army and fight in Vietnam, about his Purple Heart and two Bronze Stars and the 60 missions during which he was dropped from a helicopter into combat. And she can take her child to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and show off the grandfather's name, engraved into the black granite with more than 58,000 others.

"It's just going to be amazing," said Pontes, 31, of the Bronx, N.Y., who is eight months pregnant with her first child. "What a source of pride."

Pontes said she plans to name her child after her late father, Army Spc. Kevin John Joyce, whose name was one of six engraved into the memorial on Monday. Joyce, of Framingham, Mass., lost both his legs after being hit by shrapnel in July 1968. He died in February 1996.

Names are added to the wall each May, many of them veterans who died from Vietnam-related injuries years after returning home. Since 1982, 296 names have been sandblasted into the wall, bringing the total to 58,235.

Pontes and her brother, Brian Joyce, 24, of Watertown, Mass., watched as their father's name was added. Then they used pencil and paper to make rubbings of the freshly minted name, which they planned to frame.

"All of his close friends after the war were other veterans," said Brian Joyce, who pushed to get his father's name added to the wall. "I can't imagine any other place he'd like to be. It means a lot to the family and a lot to him."

The others added on Monday:

– Air Force Staff Sgt. Donald Scott Carson of San Francisco. He was injured in a military aircraft accident in Thailand in 1963 and died shortly thereafter. His name was not previously reported due to an oversight.

–Army Master Sgt. Frank Luther Huddleston of Clarksville, Tenn. He died in August 2002, 36 years after being wounded by machine gun fire. The bullets hit his spinal cord and he became a paraplegic.

–Army Sgt. 1st Class Dwaine Usry McGriff of Cullman, Ala. McGriff was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade in September 1970 and eventually lost his left leg. He died in January 1999.

–Army Spc. James Mark Rogers of Waynesville, N.C. He was wounded during a combat mission in December 1968, and died 32 years later.

–Army Pfc. William Joseph Scannel of Forest Park, Ill., Scannel died in September 1970, two years after being severely injured by fragments of an exploding mine.





On the Net:

Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund: www.vvmf.org



http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/military/images/030512vet.jpg

Brian Joyce, races the etching of his fathers' name at the Vietnam War Memorial. Army Spc. Kevin John Joyce of Framingham, Mass., died in February 1996 as a result of injuries received on a combat mission in Vietnam. Six names were added to memorial over the weekend and Monday.




Sempers,

Roger

garryh123
05-12-03, 08:19 PM
My father did 3 tours in vietnam. 1st marine div. Mobile artillary(did i spell that right?) He was in a coma for 2 weeks after the 3rd tour. I thank GOD every day that he made it out alive. He never talks about what he did. My mother filled me in on some of what he experienced. I have and will never ask him about what he had to do.
I only know he is THE BEST MARINE ever to wear dress blues!
I can only dream of being as great a Marine as my father!