Veterans Day is intended as a day to remember the service of the men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces and the sacrifices they made to serve.
"All gave some, some gave all."
Veterans Day, which is celebrated on Nov. 11, began to mark the end of World War I, but now honors all veterans of all wars.
Article Photos
Photo illustration by Dick McCorrison
Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall
In this photo illustration of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall are photos of each of the 17 Warren County veterans who lost their lives in the Vietnam War and their locations on the Memorial Wall: Raymond Lawrence Abbott, Panel 24E, Row 65; Paul Harold Abraham, Panel 28W, Row 106; David Elton Bean, Panel 19W, Row 36; Robert Howard Fuellhart, Panel 2E, Row 51; John Gary Gertsch (Medal of Honor recipient), Panel 20W, Row 19; Frank Edwin Gregory, Panel 59W, Row 3; Adolph Brinkman Hamm Jr., Panel 43W, Row 62; John Edward Ishman, Panel 40E, Row 64; William David Lounsbury, Panel 20W, Row 30; William Daniel Nuhfer, Panel 33W, Row 3; William Craig Olson, Panel 34W, Row 9; Steven Allen Rickerson, Panel 18W, Row 91; Fred William Shattuck Jr., Panel 20W, Row 55; Robert Eugene Sherlock, Panel 33W, Row 51; Quenton Edward Slocum Jr., Panel 62E, Row 12; Willis M. Sullivan Jr., Panel 21E, Row 116; John Anthony Surgalski, Panel 38E, Row 15.
Ceremonies honoring veterans are held throughout Warren County and the nation.
One local veteran will be taking part in a national ceremony. Every five years, volunteers read the names inscribed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C.
Richard McCorrison of Warren, who attained the rank of sergeant serving in Vietnam from 1970 to 1972 with the U.S. Army 84th Engineer Battalion, volunteered and will be one of 2,000 people who will participate in the Reading of the Names.
There are 58,282 names on the wall - remembering each service member who died in the Vietnam War.
McCorrison will read 30 of them from Panel 18 - 1968. In 2007, McCorrison also joined the Reading and was assigned 10 names.
The ceremony lasts 65 hours over four days, with readers taking two-minute shifts from 4 p.m. to midnight Wednesday and from 5 a.m. to midnight Thursday through Saturday.
Sometimes there is a crowd of listeners, and sometimes not. "Whether there are people there to listen or not doesn't matter," McCorrison said. "It's the reading of the names that matters."
The reading acts as a reminder. "The names are there for everybody to see," McCorrison said. "It's out of respect for the people whose names are on the Wall. That's their memory. It makes it a little more personal."
Family members and Vietnam veterans are given preference, but anyone can volunteer to read. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund hosts the event and accepts volunteers. Some volunteers ask to read a particular name among their list - whether it be the name of a family member or someone they served with.
McCorrison does not ask for any particular names. "I don't think I could read names of somebody I knew," he said. "A lot of Vietnam veterans can't even go there (to the Wall)."
McCorrison was given the list of names he will be reading to allow him to practice and become familiar with pronunciations. He is expected to be at the stage an hour in advance of his reading.
The reading does not stop. If one of the volunteers who signed up to read cannot make it, other volunteers are ready to step in.
"There's a sense of pride - of helping preserve somebody's memory," McCorrison said. "It helps bring a little closure. There's a lot of emotion that's involved in it."
The ceremony is significant, but it isn't the whole story.
"It's something special," McCorrison said of the event. "But Veterans Day isn't about me, it isn't about the next veteran, it isn't about just the Vietnam War."
"I'd like to see more people going to the ceremonies that are held in Warren County," he said. "Honor somebody who sacrificed so much for your freedom."
A few simple words can make a difference.
"Just say thank you," McCorrison said. "That means something."
The Warren County veterans who lost their lives in the Vietnam War and their locations on the Memorial Wall are: Raymond Lawrence Abbott, Panel 24E, Row 65; Paul Harold Abraham, Panel 28W, Row 106; David Elton Bean, Panel 19W, Row 36; Robert Howard Fuellhart, Panel 2E, Row 51; John Gary Gertsch (Medal of Honor recipient), Panel 20W, Row 19; Frank Edwin Gregory, Panel 59W, Row 3; Adolph Brinkman Hamm Jr., Panel 43W, Row 62; John Edward Ishman, Panel 40E, Row 64; William David Lounsbury, Panel 20W, Row 30; William Daniel Nuhfer, Panel 33W, Row 3; William Craig Olson, Panel 34W, Row 9; Steven Allen Rickerson, Panel 18W, Row 91; Fred William Shattuck Jr., Panel 20W, Row 55; Robert Eugene Sherlock, Panel 33W, Row 51; Quenton Edward Slocum Jr., Panel 62E, Row 12; Willis M. Sullivan Jr., Panel 21E, Row 116; John Anthony Surgalski, Panel 38E, Row 15.