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<\/p>\nSince announcing their project just one month ago, Randy Ark and Dave Bauer have received donations from across the United States to go toward their planned memorial for Clark County Vietnam soldiers who died during the war.\u00a0 Some would call it ironic that the war which found Americans so divided against themselves in factions of doves or hawks is now uniting people from across the country in the name of honoring those who served and died in such a polarizing conflict.<\/p>\n
Ark and Bauer, members of The Military Order of the Purple Heart of Ohio, even received a check from someone in the Philippines to support the effort.\u00a0 \u201cEvidently, we\u2019ve struck a nerve with a lot of people,\u201d Ark said.\u00a0 \u201cIt pleases me that so many private citizens are stepping up to help us,\u201d Ark said of the proposed memorial that will be erected in Veterans\u2019 Park in Springfield.<\/p>\n
The memorial, now being dubbed \u201cThe Dog Tag Memorial,\u201d will be constructed in the shape of, you guessed it, a large military dog tag, bearing the name of every Clark County soldier who fought and died in the Vietnam War.\u00a0 Many names have already been collected, but Ark and Bauer know they have not reached everyone in Clark County who lost a loved one in Vietnam.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ark, who was invited to join The Military Order of the Purple Heart as an honorary member, served as a medic in the First Infantry during 1968 and 1969 in Vietnam.\u00a0 \u201cMedics sometimes get wounded while tending to other wounded,\u201d Ark said of the time he was injured in February of 1969.\u00a0 No paperwork was documented of Ark\u2019s injuries as he was being treated, so he never became eligible for the Purple Heart.\u00a0 The Military Order of the Purple Heart of Ohio asked Ark to join them as an honorary member three to four years ago, and since then, he said he is very proud to be able to honor Clark County soldiers in any way possible.<\/p>\n
The \u201cDog Tag Memorial\u201d will be comprised of a roughly five feet long, three feet wide, and six-inch thick gray granite dog tag memorial set upon a base.\u00a0 A QR Code for smartphones will also adorn the monument, giving users the opportunity to share stories, photos, or memories about the men on the plaque.\u00a0 A bronze Soldier\u2019s Cross, the statue of a rifle set into combat boots topped with a soldier\u2019s helmet, will be set into the base of the monument alongside the dog tag, and a bronze plaque bearing the names of donors who gave $500 or more will be mounted on its front.\u00a0 \u201cIf it were up to me,\u201d Ark said, \u201cI\u2019d put the name of everyone who donated a quarter on there,\u201d adding that amount of support they have received from private citizens has been overwhelming.<\/p>\n
Ark said the memorial was Senior Vice Commander of Ohio\u2019s Military Order of the Purple Heart Dave Bauer\u2019s idea, and that he immediately agreed with Bauer that Clark County\u2019s Vietnam memorial was something that had to be done.\u00a0 He said that any extra donations would be used for maintaining the monument year-round, and for future projects as well.\u00a0 \u201cWe do not intend to take more than what we need for this monument,\u201d Ark stated, but said that memorializing those from the county who served in different wars was definitely a goal for the future.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOur dream is for Veterans Park to be a place where veterans can bring family and friends and be proud. We want it to be beautifully landscaped, manicured, and maintained all year round, to have the park lighted at night so to be seen from Fountain Avenue, and to have Memorial Benches for those wishing to sit and contemplate. We would like additional memorials erected for veterans from Clark County who died in WWII, the Korean War, and the Iraq\/Afghanistan War,\u201d said Ark.<\/p>\n
Ark said a woman recently called him, saying that her son\u2019s name was already on the list of names to be added to the memorial, and that she wanted to make a contribution, though she didn\u2019t have much money.\u00a0 \u201cI told her not to worry about it one bit,\u201d Ark said. \u201cShe has already given enough.\u201d<\/p>\n
The following list includes the existing names Ark and Bauer have compiled for the memorial of soldiers from Clark County, Ohio, who fought and died during the Vietnam War.\u00a0 If you know of a serviceman or woman who is not on the list, but meets the criteria above, contact Randy Ark at 937-215-3929.<\/p>\n
Steven J. Adams; William R. Adams; Steven R. Anderson; James R. Arthur; Richard R. Bean; George Beedy; William D. Bloomfield; Donald R. Bryant; Thomas E. Burlile; Jimmy L. Chambliss; James Connell; Joseph Crossley; Robert J. Curtis; Thomas L. R. Daugherty; Joseph N. Decker; Willard Delong, Jr.; David L. Doyle; David A. Dye; Wetzel L. Eldridge; Ralph B. Evilsizor; Ralph Ferguson; David A. Fialko, Jr.; Steven D. Gundolf; Robert L. Gunther; Douglas B. Haddix; David A. Hamilton; Paul L. Harrison; John F. Hatfield; Jerry W. Hauf; Louis G. Heil; Jerome Higgins; Robert A. Hill; Richard S. Leach; Larry E. Lee; Edward D. Martin; Wendell H McKenzie; Henry T. McLemore; Foster B. Miller; Richard K. Morrison; Carl F. Mowery; Carl D. Nall; David L. O\u2019Connor; Harley B. Pyles; Thomas Ralston; Robert T. Rice, Jr.; Michael E. Roberts; Larry D. Ruggles; Jack A. Sanders; Leroy E. Simons; Floyd P. Skaggs; Carl W. Sparrow; David States; James B. Tasker; Kenneth E. Thornton; Steven D. Townsley; William B. Turner; Roger L. Vickers; Terry L. Walls; Frederick A. Wathen; William M. Wellman, Jr.; Steve E. Wertz; and Clarence Williams.<\/p>\n
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Ark\u2019s rendering of the Dog Tag Memorial for Clark County soldiers who were killed while serving in the Vietnam War.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Since announcing their project just one month ago, Randy Ark and Dave Bauer have received donations from across the United States to go toward their planned memorial for Clark County Vietnam soldiers who died during the war.\u00a0 Some would call it ironic that the war which found Americans so divided against themselves in factions of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sitemap_exclude":false,"_sitemap_priority":"","_sitemap_frequency":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-489","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enoneagle.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/489","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enoneagle.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enoneagle.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enoneagle.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enoneagle.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=489"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.enoneagle.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/489\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enoneagle.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=489"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enoneagle.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=489"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enoneagle.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=489"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}