Vietnam vigil a Black Hawk County tradition
Vietnam veteran once again organizing weekend vigil at county Vietnam memorial next weekend
WATERLOO — Craig White made it home from Vietnam. Some of his friends didn't. He doesn't want them to be forgotten.
For that reason, White is once again organizing a 45-hour vigil to honor Black Hawk County residents killed or missing in the Vietnam War.
It will start 3 p.m. Friday Sept. 15 and run through noon Sunday Sept. 17 at the Black Hawk County Vietnam Veterans Memorial, at Parmount Park at East Fourth Street and the Cedar River.
The 45 hours represent one hour for each of the Black Hawk County residents killed or missing during Vietnam.
White said he's still looking for volunteers to stand the watch during the vigil.
"Lots of open hours," White said.
This will be the ninth year White has organized the vigil. It began in 1986 with the memorial dedication. White, a former Black Hawk County supervisor, resumed it in 2015 after it was discontinued for several years beginning in the early 2000s. Typically the vigil has brief opening and closing ceremonies with a presentation of colors.
The memorial itself is a three sided monolith of black granite, like the stone used for the national Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., known as "the Wall" and dedicated in 1982.
It is located in downtown Waterloo at Paramount Park at East Fourth Street and the Cedar River. It is the former location of the Parmound Theatre, a popular and fondly remembered entertainment spot for those of the Vietnam/Baby Boom generation in Black Hawk County.
The 45 individuals listed on the memorial died or were reported missing in action between 1966 and 1971.
The first, 2nd Lt. Robert Hibbs of Cedar Falls, received the Medal of Honor posthumously.
A graduate of Cedar Falls High School and the U.S. Army ROTC program at what is now the University of Northern Iowa, Hibbs, who served in a company of the 1st Infantry Division, was killed in action March 5, 1966 as he and another soldier recovered a wounded comrade when their 14-main squad encountered a company of Viet Cong guerrillas. Hibbs stayed behind to lay down covering fire to allow the other soldiers to escape, saving their lives. He was mortally wounded trying to destroy two enemy machine gun installations. Before succumbing, Hibbs destroyed his rifle scope to prevent its capture by the enemy. President Lyndon Johnson awarded Hibbs’ medal to his parents at a ceremony Feb. 24, 1967.
The last Black Hawk County resent to perish during Vietnam service, Warren Wolff of Janesville and Waterloo, contracted meningitis and died of a respiratory ailment in November 1971.
Five of the soldiers and Marines who died came from the same high school graduating class -- the Waterloo West High Class of 1965.
White, a 1967 graduate of Waterloo Columbus High School, served as a forward artillery observer in Vietnam in 1968-69. In particular, he remembers two childhood friends, Dave Davis and Dave Hartogh, killed in March and November 1969, respectively.
Two of the 45 men were U.S. Air force pilots who were reported missing in action. Lt. Col. Larry W. Whitford of Cedar Falls, the son of UNI baseball coach L.W. "Mon" Whitford, went missing over the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos Nov. 2, 1969 along with his navigator, Capt. Patrol Carroll of Michigan. Another Black Hawk County resident, Col. Richard Ayers of Waterloo, a reconaissance pilot, also went missing over Ho Ch Minh Trail in Laos April 16, 1970.
The Black Hawk County vigil is being held concurrent with National POW-MIA Remembrance Day, which is Saturday, Sept. 16. The U.S. Department of Defense POW-MIA Accounting Agency, based in Hawaii, continues to work for a full accounting of those missing in action from all eras and conflicts.
A total of 869 Iowans were killed in the Vietnam War, among the 58,220 Americans who lost their lives in that conflict. Iowa's Vietnam memorial, on the grounds of the Iowa Capitol in Des Moines, was dedicated in 1984.
Anyone is welcome to participate in the Black Hawk County vigil and may contact White at (319) 215-7104.
White, also a co-organizer of Cedar Valley Honor Flights of veterans to Washington. D.C. is a frequent visitor to the county memorial during walks dowtown. He can be seen pausing there and blessing himself in prayer.
He'll be there again next weekend.
Pat Kinney is a freelance writer and former longtime news staffer with the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier and, prior to that, several years at the Ames Tribune. He is currently an oral historian with the Grout Museum District in Waterloo. His “View from the Cedar Valley” column is part of “Iowa Writers Collaborative,” a collection of news and opinion writers from around the state who previously and currently work with a host of Iowa newspapers, news organizations and other publications. They are listed below. Clink on the links to check them out, subscribe for free - and, if you believe in the value of quality journalism, support this column and/or any of theirs with a paid subscription .
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