Written by Sgt. William White
2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (AA) Public
Fort Campbell, KY – More than 50 Vietnam Veterans, Family members and Soldiers of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) held a memorial rededication ceremony August 23rd at Fort Campbell, KY to honor 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment Soldiers who were killed in action during the Vietnam War.
The Veterans, who served in the 2-502 Infantry Regiment (formerly the 2-502d Parachute Infantry Regiment) of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team during the Vietnam War, unveiled an updated version of the unit’s Vietnam memorial.
The 2-502 served in Vietnam from 1965 to 1972. During its service, the battalion saw extensive combat, losing 474 Soldiers, including three who were posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. The memorial, originally dedicated in 1986, was missing 26 of the fallen Soldiers.
With no outside funding, the 2-502 Veterans came together and raised more than $30,000 to revise the memorial. Finally, on August 23rd, it was rededicated.
Roy Hill, a 2-502 Veteran from Rockhold, Kentucky was among the Veterans who attended the rededication. Hill knew many of the names that were added.
“The names that are down there… I remember each event where they got killed,” Hill said. “It’s like a rerun of a movie in your head.”
Hill said he tries to stay away from things that remind him of the military for mental health reasons. He admitted he originally wasn’t going to attend the rededication but his friend and Vietnam battle buddy, Bruce Falconer, convinced him to come to this particular event.
“There’s a bond you get by going through intense situations together,” Falconer said. “You learn about people when the bullets are flying.”
Falconer said he knew it was his duty to make sure his friend made it to the event. He said Veterans share a deep friendship after a conflict like Vietnam.
Lt. Col. Adam Sawyer, current commander of 2-502, was heartened to see the Veterans’ spirit of caring.
“That sends such a powerful message to our Soldiers that we always take care of each other,” Sawyer said. “They see that 45 years after a conflict these Veterans got together and realized that these 26 names were missing and took care of each other and raised the money for this and then came from all over the U.S. to be here.”
Current Soldiers of 2-502 continue to maintain a close relationship with the 2-502 Vietnam Veterans. Many current 2-502 Soldiers attended the ceremony and Sawyer hopes it set a powerful example to his troops.
“Even though there may be many years that distance us from when these Soldiers served, that bond is still there,” he said. “It shows our Soldier’s that we always take care of each other.”
