These absent friends ...

The Iowa Vietnam Veterans Memorial, dedicated on Memorial Day, 1984, is to my mind the most effective and moving of the various war memorials grouped south and southwest of the Capitol, although the fact this was my war undoubtedly colors that feeling --- and it is more of a feeling than an opinion.

The towering Soldiers and Sailors Monument nearby, commemorating Civil War sacrifice, is an amazing work --- generally acknowledged as among the best from that era in the nation. But it inspires awe, as it was intended to do, and somehow the humanity of those it honors is obscured.

The names of Iowa’s 869 war dead inscribed on the Vietnam monument are the repositories of its power, as is the case at the national monument (58,256 names) after which it was patterned. That power is magnified by the reflections among the dead of the living faces of those who draw near, thrown back and intermingled by polished black granite, the living connected to the dead.

The national Vietnam Veterans Memorial, or The Wall, designed by Maya Lin, a young Yale University architecture student, was dedicated in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 13, 1982, after considerable controversy. It did not, after all, look like other memorials and many took offense at that even though it has since been recognized as perhaps the nation’s greatest, more effectively mending the torn fabric of the nation than any other.

It’s often said the Iowa memorial is similar to The Wall, but that is not exactly the case. It is more of a reflection expressed in the Iowa vernacular. The mirror surface of polished black granite is the same, as are the names (although here they are arranged alphabetically rather than chronologically by date of death as is the case in Washington). The form is very Iowa --- more conventional, more recognizable, more approachable for those seeking a specific name.

Sometimes the memorial is criticized for its Iowa-ness, but that’s unfair I think. Maya Lin’s Wall has power that cannot be replicated, and its designers recognized that.

Jacqueline Day of Des Moines, whose son had been seriously wounded in Vietnam, was the prime mover in lobbying for and in conjunction with the Iowa Vietnam Veterans Memorial Commission, raising private funds to build the Iowa memorial. Day (1918-2002) is most frequently identified as confidential secretary to Iowa Govs. Norman Erbe and Robert D. Ray, but she was far more than that. More about her achievements may be found on the Iowa Women’s Hall of Fame Web site, here.

I’ve found the design attributed to Mary Jane Long of Des Moines and Tim Salisbury of Evanston, Ill., but cannot confirm that.

Although the place of honor on the memorial is given to those who died, it was and is intended to honor all Iowans who served during Vietnam. The inscription preceding the names reads, “A Reflection of Hope: A Monument Established by the Citizens of Iowa to Honor Iowans Who Served During the Vietnam War. These Absent Friends Will Never Be Forgotten.”

On April 19, 2005, 30 years after the end of the Vietnam War and 20 years after the memorial was dedicated, the Iowa House and Senate approved a resolution that thanked the veterans for their service. It was the first time the Iowa Legislature had officially recognized Iowa Vietnam War veterans.



Each name on the Iowa memorial has a story behind it. What follows is an attempt to tell a little of the stories of the young men from Lucas and Wayne counties whose names are inscribed there. This is a tricky proposition, since it is based on homes of record at time of death. If I’ve overlooked someone, kindly let me know via e-mail or comment.

The homes of record of three Vietnam KIA, Dennis William Bingham, Leonard Dean Cooper and Dennis Richard Levis, were in Lucas County.

U.S. Army Spec. 4 Dennis William Bingham (12 November 1947-17 July 1969), a Green Beret, was the first Lucas Countyan killed in action in Vietnam and so far as I know the only Vietnam KIA buried in Lucas County --- in the Chariton Cemetery. He was shot to death by hostile forces in Laos while assigned to Spike Recon Team Hawaii, Command and Control Central (CCC), MACV Studies & Observation Group (MACVSOG). He was a member of the U.S. Army's 5th Special Forces Group, a son of Sebird M. (Bill) and Marjorie Bingham and a 1965 honors graduate of Chariton High School who also had attended Centerville Community College (now Indian Hills Community College) for two years.

Marine PFC Leonard Dean Cooper. The Chariton Herald Patriot of 23 October 1969 carried the following report under the headline, “Lucas Soldier is Victim of Vietnam Mine”: A 23-year-old Marine, the son of Mr. and Mrs. W. R. Whitis of rural Lucas, has been killed in action in Vietnam. The Defense Department notified Mr. and Mrs. Whitis that their son, Pfc. Leonard D. Cooper was killed Saturday. They said that he was returning from a road-building detail in Quang Nam Province when his jeep hit an anti-personnel mine. He was born in Oskaloosa and attended schools there and in New Sharon. He had gone to Vietnam in August.” No further reports were carried in Chariton newspapers. Online sources give Leonard’s date of birth as 7 June 1946, his date of death as 18 October 1969 and the names of his parents as Robert Cooper and Leona Holt.

U.S. Army Sgt. Dennis Richard Levis, assigned to the 196th Light Infantry Brigade, Americal Division, died 20 July 1970, when struck by mortar fire while serving at the Kahm Duk air strip near Dan Nang. Son of Delrein and Gweniverre Levis, he was born 23 August 1946 at Chariton, was a 1964 graduate of Seymour High School, attended Centerville (Indian Hills) Community College and received his B.S. degree in accounting during 1968 at Drake University. In addition to his parents, he was survived by his wife, nee Linda Bellomo, of Center Line, Mich., and a sister, Mrs. Nancy Drake of Chariton. Funeral services were held in Allerton and burial was in the Allerton Cemetery.

The homes of record of six Vietnam KIA --- Richard Allen Cesar, Larry Gene Gosch, Jerry Warner Hickerson, Terry Franklin Leazer, Roger McClatchy and Gary Moore --- were in Wayne County. A seventh, Albert Crouch, lived in neighboring Appanoose County but was a resident of the Seymour community and attended school there.

U.S. Marine Corporal Richard Allen Cesar, born 21 December 1944 at Boone, a son of John T. and Betty Cesar, moved with his family to Rockford, Ill., where he lived for 14 years before coming to Russell to live with his uncle and aunt, Mr. and Mrs. Harold Kastner. When his parents moved to Corydon from Rockford, he transferred to Corydon High School for his senior year, graduating with the class of 1963. He had enlisted in the U.S. Marines while still in high school and entered the active service on 11 June 1963. By the spring of 1965, now a gunner, he was on Okinawa and a member of Weapons Platoon, Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 9th Marines. The 9th Marines were among the first into Vietnam that spring, and Richard was among them. On 1 September, he received a battlefield promotion to corporal. Not long after, he was assigned with a few buddies to Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 1st Marines, to add combat depth to an inexperienced unit. A few days later, on 30 October 1965, he died on Hill 22 near Da Nang — not yet 21. While Richard was in the service, his parents had moved back to Rockford. Funeral services took place there and he was buried in Rockford's Willwood Cemetery. More about Richard may be found here.

U.S. Army Sgt. Larry Gene Gosch is one of two young men from Lineville who died in Vietnam. The other is U.S. Marine Lance Corporal Gary Lee Moore. Gary died during September of 1967; and Larry, in June of 1969. The two are buried a few paces apart in Evergreen Cemetery on Lineville’s north edge and perhaps a mile away, to the northeast, Moore-Gosch Memorial Park, a Wayne County conservation area, commemorates them jointly.

Born 1 April 1946, Larry was a 1964 graduate of Allerton-Clio-Lineville High School who attended Indian Hills Community College in Centerville before transferring to Northeast Missouri State University (now Truman) in Kirksville. He wanted to be a history teacher, but circumstance conspired against him and he was drafted into the U.S. Army. Assigned to Co. B, 4th Battalion, 23rd Infantry, 25th Infantry Division, he was killed in a firefight on 6 June 1969. The commendation that accompanied the Bronze Star Medal he received posthumously describes his final moments: “While on a reconnaissance in force mission, Company B came in contact with a large enemy force. Immediately, Sergeant Gosch exposed himself to the hail of hostile fire as he placed a devastating barrage of .50 caliber machine gun fire on the insurgents. As Sergeant Gosch fearlessly continued his relentless fire on the enemy, he was fatally wounded by the intense fire.” Larry was survived by his father, Ervin; his stepmother, Naida (his mother, Elsie, had died in 1966) and two sisters, Eloise and Jackie.

U.S. Marine PFC Jerry Warner Hickerson, buried in Seymour’s South Lawn Cemetery, was born 23 February 1948 in Centerville to Wendell Ray Hickerson and Ann (McClain) Clubb, but from the age of 7 made his home in Wayne County with his grandparents, Ray and Icle Hickerson. He was a student in the Corydon schools from second grade until his graduation with the class of 1966 and was active in athletics. Following graduation, he attended Centerville Community College (now Indian Hills Community College) for two years, then enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps. He arrived in Vietnam on 11 August 1969. Assigned to B Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, he had been in Vietnam less than a month when he died. Accounts of his death, published in both Corydon and Seymour newspapers, state that he died on Saturday, 6 September 1969, of head and body grenade fragmentation wounds sustained "while in contact with hostile forces at an ambush site." Casualty reports state that he was a possible victim of friendly fire.

Jerry was one of four young men with ties to Seymour who died in Vietnam: The first was U.S. Navy FN Terry Franklin Leazer on 24 May 1967; the second, Jerry; the third, Warrant Officer 1 Albert Crouch on 18 May 1970; and the fourth, U.S. Army Sgt. Dennis Richard Levis, on 20 July 1970.

U.S. Navy FN Terry Franklin Leazer was born 2 December 1946 in Corydon, but moved to the Seymour community when he was 6. He graduated from Seymour Community High School with the class of 1965 and enlisted in the U.S. Navy during July of 1966. He had been in Vietnam only two weeks when he was killed on 24 May 1967 while serving as midships gunner aboard PBR 101 patrolling the Cho Chien (or Ham Luong) River about 60 miles south of Saigon.

Terry’s friend, Randy Stafford of Albia, provided this account of the attack at Terry’s site on The Virtual Wall: “While on patrol on the Cho Chien River, 60 miles south of Saigon at 07:30 on 24 May 1967 PBR 101 came under fire from the right bank from an ambush cleverly set by the Viet Cong. The first RPG round hit the forward .50 mount and exploded killing Lt. Charles Don Witt, and crewmen Roy L. Castleberry and Michael Courtney Quinn. ENFN Terry Franklin Leazer, the midships gunner, returned machine gun fire on the enemy, before being felled by enemy machine gun fire. The boat was drifting into the right bank, and into enemy hands, when Micheal James Devlin (the lone survivor) reversed the engines, and was able to get the boat out of the kill zone.” (Note that other sources identify the river as the Ham Luong.)

Funeral services were held May 31 in Seymour and Terry was buried at Shriver Cemetery, a few miles west of town. He was survived by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Gene Leazer; his mother, Goldie McCarty; a sister, Jean Arriga; two stepbrothers and three stepsisters.


More to come ...