Macungie memorial pays tribute to fallen soldiers
Marine Sgt. Hugh J. Sullivan Jr. didn’t make it home from the war in Vietnam.
The Easton native never got to see his daughter. She was 3 months old when Sullivan was fatally shot.
Army paratrooper Gerald E. Davis, 19, a football player and track star at Liberty High School in Bethlehem, didn’t come home, either. He was killed by friendly fire.
Nor did David Barnes of Allentown. The Army squad leader, an Allen High School graduate and wrestler, was mortally wounded leading his men in battle.
Memorial Day is a time to remember those who perished serving our country.
It’s also an opportunity to remember those who go to great lengths and great expense to ensure that heroes such as Sullivan, Davis and Barnes are never forgotten.
May 25 marks the 25th anniversary of the dedication of a memorial to the 126 military personnel from Lehigh and Northampton counties who died in the Vietnam War.
The Lehigh-Northampton Vietnam Veterans Memorial was dedicated on May 25, 1997, at the Macungie Veterans Association. It recently was renamed the Some Gave All Memorial.
Many of those who were involved in planning and building the memorial a quarter century ago no longer are around, or are in poor health.
Vietnam veteran Larry Deibert, who was president of the committee that built the memorial, contacted me. He is hoping supporters will consider buying an engraved brick, as some of the proceeds help to maintain the memorial.
Bricks can be inscribed to commemorate any veteran, living or deceased.
Deibert also wants to remind people that all deceased veterans have an opportunity to have their names memorialized at the site.
They are etched on a granite wall behind the obelisk bearing the names of those killed in Vietnam. The wall is similar to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., though much smaller.
The wall bears the names of 308 deceased veterans. Their service ranges from the Spanish-American War to Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Several served in multiple wars, including Sgt. First Class Raymond H. Hall, who served in World War II, Korea and Vietnam.
The memorial was planned and built by volunteers from three organizations: Veterans of the Vietnam War Post 54 in Northampton and Post 75 in Macungie, and Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 415 in Fullerton. They held fundraisers and built floats for parades to increase public awareness.
The memorial is a testament for how a community can come together to honor fallen soldiers.
Deibert estimates the memorial cost $50,000 to $75,000. Funds were raised with sales of shirts, mugs and commemorative books, along with what people paid to have names inscribed on bricks and the granite wall.
The project would have cost a lot more, perhaps $250,000, if local businesses hadn’t stepped up and donated materials and services, he said.
“We would have never got it built. No way,” Deibert said.
Vietnam veteran Bill Cooper designed it. Bill Wenz of Earl Wenz memorials created it. Sculptor Bob Peters of Macungie made a fallen soldier sculpture, military boots with a helmet and dogtags draped over it.
Vietnam veterans Larry Andrews, Mike Powell, Ron Ruff and Dennis Hein spent hours on their hands and knees placing about 5,000 bricks that make up the Walkway of Honor.
“Pretty much everything was a labor of love,” Deibert said.
Others played roles behind the scenes.
Deibert, of Hellertown, spent time at the library to compile obituaries of the dead for a commemorative program that was sold at the dedication. It was tedious work to find them in newspaper archives and then print them.
A woman sitting nearby asked what he was doing. After he explained, she offered to help.
She even arranged them on the pages for the book. “Just call me Angel,” she told him.
“Sometimes, I think it was a real angel,” Deibert said. “I never saw her after that.”
To buy an inscribed brick or get a name inscribed on the wall, call the Macungie Veterans Association, 610-966-4949.