East Texas Quarterly Magazine Summer 2014 | Page 14

“They fought, they bled, all too
often they died for their country.
When they came home, there
weren’t any parades. There
weren’t any picnics. Instead they
were treated with indifference
or, even worse, with outright
scorn,” said Gov. Rick Perry.
They came from all parts of the
nation and from all parts of Texas.
From Bastrop to Buna, from San
Antonio to San Augustine,
from Juarez to Jasper. They
came
at
their
country’s
beck-and-call to serve and
often to die. They are the
men and women of the
Vietnam War.
On Saturday, March 29th, the
state of Texas paid lasting tribute
to the men and women who
served with dignity and honor in
the Armed Forces of the United
States during the Vietnam War
with the dedication of the Texas
Capitol Vietnam Veterans Monument on the grounds of the state
capitol in Austin.

bas-relief panels capture scenes
depicting the men and women
of Texas who served in Vietnam.
Poised above the panels, five
“Dawn Patrol” figures represent
the service and sacrifice of Texas
combat infantry troops, and
benches emblazoned with the
MIA/POW symbol remind visitors
of Texans who were held prisoner
or are unaccounted for in Vietnam.
More than 100 Texans are still
listed as MIA.
Personalized dog tags honoring
the 3,417 Texans who were
killed or are unaccounted for are
entombed in the monument as
a permanent memorial to Texas’
fallen Vietnam heroes and a lasting
tribute to their families and loved
ones.

Among the more than 5,000
Texans who attended the
dedication ceremonies were
former Jasper County Judge Harold
Kennedy,
his
wife
Olivia,
and Roy James, executive
director of Honor and Remember
of Texas. Judge Kennedy’s brother,
The monument rises 14 feet Judd Kennedy was the first Jasper
from the northeast capitol resident killed in Vietnam.
grounds near the peace officer Other Jasper residents among
Memorial. Above a “sunset red” the killed in action in Vietnam were
granite pediment matching the Stephen Jumper and Ray Mays, Jr.
Capitol itself, a series of large

Left: Governor Rick Perry accepts the memorial on behalf of the people of Texas
. Right: Several Native American tribes were on hand to bless the Texas Fallen
heroes memorial during the unveiling ceremony.

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East Texas Quarterly