Remembering the fallen: 'This is good. A little late'

The 5-foot-high wall cuts a long, black, angular line between the lawn and the gravestones.

On Thursday, war veterans and others gathered in Santa Rosa Memorial Park for a ceremony to greet the Traveling Vietnam War Memorial, a half-scale replica of the iconic Washington monument.

Some walked along the 124-foot-long wall. Some touched the inscribed names; there are 58,260 of them identifying military service people killed in the war or still missing in action.

Veterans talked and many smoked, although a sign said not to. The wall caught their reflections as the morning sun climbed.

"I've learned not to ask my buddies 'How are you?' " said one man when asked how he was. "Don't want to open up that can of worms."

Gary Greenough, a Navy Vietnam veteran, said, "We are not here to debate the rights and wrongs of the Vietnam War, but to make certain that the men and women who gave the ultimate sacrifice for their country are not forgotten."

He read the names of 56 known to have been born in Sonoma County whose names are inscribed on the wall.

"Clinton Russell Anderson, Healdsburg; Duane Roy Baumgardner, Cloverdale; William David Blessman, Sebastopol; Thomas Ray Bowen, Forestville; John Newton Brewer, Sonoma; James Allen Bullington, Santa Rosa; Dean Harry Burns, Sonoma . . ."

After each name, Doug Newton, a Marine veteran of the war, shouted, "No answer."

A man in motorcycle boots and a leather vest with a dog tag hanging from its zipper spread his hand open, rubbed his eyes with a thumb and forefinger.

"Charles John Catelli, Santa Rosa; David Michael Chaney, Santa Rosa; Christopher Elliot Clay, Santa Rosa; Raymond Mancol Clifton, Santa Rosa; Donald Houston Coleman, Healdsburg; Dale Leroy Davis, Santa Rosa . . ."

When the color guard arrived, someone joked, "A vet with a gun, look out." They placed four flags and a wreath at the center of the wall where the names of the first and last soldier killed in Vietnam meet.

Watching them, and the growing crowd, a veteran in sunglasses said: "This is good, it's real good. A little late."

"Ronald Lewis Doolittle, Santa Rosa; Charles Dudley Doorman, Santa Rosa; Gregory Lynn Dunn, Santa Rosa; Theodore Glenn Feland, Santa Rosa; Robert Allen Fenton, Boyes Hot Springs; Ricky Davis Fisher, Santa Rosa . . ."

Five pennies and two dimes were placed on a black-and-white photo on the ground by panel 65E, near the wall's right end. The photo showed soldiers, some in combat fatigues, some shirtless, gathered around two mounted machine guns.

"Edsel A. Frick, Petaluma; Frederick William Hass, Santa Rosa; Joseph Austin Hadley, Santa Rosa; David Lee Harding, Rohnert Park; Michael Patrick Hourigan, Santa Rosa; Jason David Hunnicutt, Santa Rosa; J.B. Jackson Jr., Santa Rosa; David Allen Cardell, Sonoma . . ."

Sonoma County Supervisor Tim Smith, a Navy veteran of the war, nearly cried as he told of a "real good kid" he met at the memorial wall in Washington who never knew his father, but visited annually on his birthday.

"Reginald Victor Maisy Jr., Sonoma; Ronald Dean Marcrum, Monte Rio; Rodney Elmer Marrufo Jr., Stewarts Point; Martin Sigurd Messer, Eldridge; John Paul Mills, Sebastopol; William Eugene Montgomery, Healdsburg . . ."

As people mingled in the heat, someone said, "He was about 21 when he died."

Another voice offered, "I'll kill anyone I see spitting on a vet."

"Kevin Spear Mulgrew, Santa Rosa; Thomas J. Oglethorpe, Petaluma; Gerald Thomas Parmeter, Cazadero; Lawrence Lee Peterson, Eldridge; Thomas Miles Phillips, Healdsburg; Babe Pinole, Santa Rosa; Edward George Rainford, Santa Rosa; Richard Andrew Renning, Glen Ellen . . ."

"I was up at the Clearlake funeral," said a woman, referring to the Aug. 16 service for Ivan Wilson, a Marine killed in Iraq.

"Cameron A. Rice, Petaluma; Joseph Michael Rodriguez, Santa Rosa; Dana Gale Rose, Santa Rosa; Robert Edwin Ruona-vaara, Santa Rosa; Jerry Dean Schroeder, Santa Rosa; Robert Eugene Schultz, Santa Rosa; Barry Martin Searby, Santa Rosa; Robert Leon Sharpless, Santa Rosa; Kenny Briggs Sicilia, Santa Rosa . . ."

James Cutri of Rohnert Park, a Marine veteran of Vietnam, stood up from his wheelchair to blow taps on his bugle.

"John Herbert Snyder, Santa Rosa; William Dewey Thompson Jr., Healdsburg; Charles Peter Torliatt Jr., Petaluma; Steven Lynn Weight, Cloverdale; Larry Elden Wittler, Petaluma; Edwin Allen Zumwalt, Santa Rosa."

"No answer."

You can reach Staff Writer Jeremy Hay at 521-5212 or jeremy.hay@pressdemocrat.com.