Showing posts with label Military Vietnam CC Memorial. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Military Vietnam CC Memorial. Show all posts

Saturday, May 26, 2012

Eagle Archive: For Memorial Day, we recall a fallen soldier who made sure we remembered others



Eagle Archive: For Memorial Day, we recall a fallen soldier who made sure we remembered others

By Kevin Dayhoff, May 26, 2012 http://www.baltimoresun.com/explore/carroll/news/ph-ce-eagle-archive-0527-20120526,0,2171783.story#tugs_story_display


In 1967, our community noted the 100th anniversary of Westminster's Memorial Day observances. According to local historian Jay Graybeal, who wrote about the occasion for the Historical Society of Carroll County in 1997, "Participants came from sixteen states and one newspaper estimated that the crowd numbered 15,000 people."

Ironically and tragically, it was just one year after that centennial celebration that Air National Guard Lt. Col. Sherman E. Flanagan Jr., 38, a Westminster attorney — and a member of the 100th anniversary committee — was shot down and killed while flying a mission over the Demilitarized Zone in Vietnam on July 21, 1968. He was flying an F-100 "Super Sabre" jet fighter at the time of his death.

According to an article in The Baltimore Sun's Carroll County edition, "Flanagan was believed to be the first Guardsman to die in Vietnam who was called to duty during that period." … http://www.baltimoresun.com/explore/carroll/news/ph-ce-eagle-archive-0527-20120526,0,2171783.story#tugs_story_display

For #Memorial Day, we recall Air National Guard Lt. Col. Sherman E. Flanagan Jr loss in #Vietnam

Eagle Archive: Wampler's life of service made him an apt participant on #Westminster #Memorial Day http://tinyurl.com/7vojfmx


Atlee Wampler was a tall man who maintained a military bearing forged in heavy combat throughout WWII, all his life

Wampler served as the #Westminster #Carroll Co #Memorial Day parade marshall from 1947 until his death in 1991 http://tinyurl.com/7vojfmx


On May 28, Carroll County and Westminster will mark the 145th observance of Memorial Day with an expanded parade and three-days of activities — thanks to all the hard work of American Legion Carroll Post No. 31 and leaders like Skip Amass, coordinator of this year's activities.

The tradition of the parade and ceremony in Westminster began in 1868, when Mary Bostwick Shellman followed General John A. Logan's May 5, 1868, General Order No. 11 — which called upon people to adorn the graves of Union soldiers with flowers.

She gathered a group of schoolchildren for that task, and they walked from the old schoolhouse on Center Street to Westminster Cemetery.

As with all the many stories in Carroll, the hands and hearts of countless individuals and community organizations have guided and nurtured the observances over the years. The list is long and celebrated.

However, one of the names historically synonymous with Memorial Day is particularly worthy of note — Atlee Willis Wampler Jr… READ MORE: http://www.baltimoresun.com/explore/carroll/news/ph-ce-eagle-archive-0520-20120519,0,5649787.story



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Recently on Explore Carroll and Eagle Archives - by Kevin Dayhoff http://tinyurl.com/7q46ksr



[20120526 To those who serve thank you] http://tinyurl.com/7q46ksr
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Reflections on #Memorial Day by Kevin E. Dayhoff http://tinyurl.com/br3hams The Tentacle Wednesday, May 23, 2012

The Tentacle Wednesday, May 23, 2012 Reflections on #Memorial Day by Kevin E. Dayhoff http://tinyurl.com/br3hams



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Recently on Explore Carroll and Eagle Archives - by Kevin Dayhoff http://tinyurl.com/7q46ksr



[20120526 To those who serve thank you] http://tinyurl.com/7q46ksr

To those who serve thank you http://tinyurl.com/7q46ksr

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Reflections on #Memorial Day by Kevin E. Dayhoff http://tinyurl.com/br3hams The Tentacle Wednesday, May 23, 2012

The Tentacle Wednesday, May 23, 2012 Reflections on #Memorial Day by Kevin E. Dayhoff http://tinyurl.com/br3hams



Next Monday is Memorial Day. For many it is more than a holiday, it is a day when we gather as a community to express our gratitude to our country’s men and women in uniform, who by their sacrifice cannot be with us to enjoy the day… http://www.thetentacle.com/ShowArticle.cfm?mydocid=5122

This year, Westminster and Carroll County will mark its 145th observance of Memorial Day with an expanded parade and four-days of activities.

The tradition of the parade and ceremony in Westminster began in 1868, when Mary Bostwick Shellman followed General John A. Logan’s May 5, 1868, General Order No. 11 to adorn the graves of Union soldiers with flowers. She gathered a group of schoolchildren for the task and they walked from the old schoolhouse on Center Street to Westminster Cemetery.

[…]

Last week I wrote about a local community leader, Atlee Willis Wampler, Jr., who served as the Westminster Memorial Day parade marshal for more than 44 years, from just after World War II until he passed away March 11, 1991.

[…]

That said, I have grown exhausted with the gut-wrenching existentialism and overwhelming fatigue that accompanies covering military funerals for the paper.

I was quite struck by a May 6 article in The Washington Post by Ian Shapira, “Barbara Robbins: A slain CIA secretary’s life and death,” about a little-known Vietnam War casualty from a bombing that occurred in Saigon March 30, 1965.

According to the article, “The CIA director revealed only a few details about the 21-year-old woman, a secretary among spies. In the agency’s annual memorial service for employees killed on the job, then-Director Leon E. Panetta announced that a new name had been inscribed with calligraphy inside the CIA’s Book of Honor: Barbara Annette Robbins, who had volunteered to go to Saigon during the Vietnam War…

[…]

The story of Ms. Robbins is compelling and evocative. Yet for me, what I found particularly haunting was the black and white picture of a very young American, in a far-off land, defending our freedoms, staring right at us.


The Tentacle Wednesday, May 23, 2012 Reflections on #Memorial Day by Kevin E. Dayhoff http://tinyurl.com/br3hams




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'Skip' Amass leads the charge for Westminster's 145th Memorial Day observance


Keeping the focus on community, service ... and good weather



Not long after the sun comes up on Memorial Day, and hours before Westminster's 145th Memorial Day parade kicks off at 9:30 a.m., Arnold "Skip" Amass will be on site, helping set up the TV cameras and tying up last-minute loose ends.

Most of all, he'll be praying for good weather during an event that he's been busy planning almost from the moment that last year's 144th Memorial Day parade wrapped up.

"To give you some idea of the scope of this project, the committee that's working on this with me has about 145 people on it," said Amass, who for the past 15 years has also been the voice of the parade, providing commentary for Carroll County's public access TV channel 19's live coverage of the event.

This is the first year he's taken on the far more demanding role of principal coordinator.


"The people on the committee, who meet at the American Legion, represent just about every organization and every government in the county, including the library, the farm museum, the police departments," said Amass, 80, himself a Korean War veteran and long-time member of Westminster's Carroll Post 31 American Legion Post… http://www.baltimoresun.com/explore/carroll/ph-ce-skip-amass-0604-20120523,0,1578592,full.story

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#Westminster 2012 #Memorial Day Celebration Calendar of Events - 145th Anniversary

Westminster 2012 Memorial Day Celebration
Calendar of Events - 145th Anniversary

Saturday, May 26

* 9 a.m.-2 p.m. -Antique car show on the City of Westminster parking lot in front of City Hall, Longwell Avenue, Westminster. Entries by the AACA Gettysburg Region Antique Car Club, the Street Cars of Desire and the Free State Corvette Club.

* Noon-5 p.m. - Carroll County Farm Museum - Military reenactors depicting the life and times of soldiers during the War of 1812, the Civil War, World War I, WWII, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, Operation Desert Storm, Kuwait and other conflicts. There will be demonstrations and displays and encampments. Also jeep rides for kids and a rock climbing wall. Free admission to events.

* 3 p.m. - Carroll County Farm Museum - music concert featuring the Westminster Municipal Band and the Old Line Statesmen Barbershop Group.

* 4-7 p.m. - Fried chicken dinner and entertainment at the VFW Post, 519 Poole Road. Cost is $8 adults; $5 children ages 3 to 8. For tickets, call 410-848-9888, Ext. 1, or Deb Carns at 443-677-0361.

* 7-11 p.m. - Heroes Dance at the VFW Post. Ticket $5; call 410-848-9888, Ext. 1, or 443-677-0361.

Sunday, May 27

* Noon-5 p.m. -Events at the Carroll County Farm Museum, 500 S. Center St., Westminster, continue with 20th century military reenactors, jeep rides and a rock climbing wall. Free admission to events.

* 3 p.m. - Band concert at the Carroll County Farm Museum featuring the Winters Mill High School Band and Joe and Audrey Cimino performing patriotic songs.

Monday, May 28

* 9:30 a.m.-Noon -145th Memorial Day Parade, from Pennsylvania Avenue to Main Street to the Westminster Cemetery. At the conclusion of the parade observance held at the cemetery with comments by grand marshal Commander Matthew Shipley, USN.

* 2 p.m. - Memorial Day service at VFW Post, 519 Poole Road, with guest speaker, retired Army Chaplain Col. Joel Cocklin, a Westminster native who graduated from Westminster High School in 1965. Also an open house, refreshments and special music. Call 443-677-0361 for details.

#Westminster 2012 #Memorial Day Celebration Calendar of Events - 145th Anniversary



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Memorial Day 2012 by Maryland State Senator Joe Getty

Westminster's 145th Consecutive Celebration
Marylanders for Joe Getty
May 26, 2012



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 Google profile: https://profiles.google.com/kevindayhoff/

Kevin Dayhoff Art: http://www.kevindayhoff.com/ (http://kevindayhoffart.blogspot.com/http://www.kevindayhoffart.com/ New Bedford Herald: http://kbetrue.livejournal.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevindayhoff

Google profile: https://profiles.google.com/kevindayhoff/ “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.” 1 Peter 4:10
Eagle Archive: For Memorial Day, we recall a fallen soldier who made sure we remembered others

 Google profile: https://profiles.google.com/kevindayhoff/
Kevin Dayhoff Art: http://www.kevindayhoff.com/ (http://kevindayhoffart.blogspot.com/http://www.kevindayhoffart.com/ New Bedford Herald: http://kbetrue.livejournal.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevindayhoff
Google profile: https://profiles.google.com/kevindayhoff/ “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.” 1 Peter 4:10

Monday, May 30, 2011

Explore Carroll: DAYHOFF: Recalling a fallen son of Carroll, Staff Sgt. James Norman Byers



SSgt James Norman Byers had been deployed to Vietnam for five months when he was killed by a Viet Cong sniper on Friday, January 20, 1967. 

Staff Sgt. James Norman Byers - Byers had been deployed to Vietnam for five months when he was killed by a Viet Cong sniper on Friday, January 20, 1967.  Staff Sergeant Byers, who had decided to make a career of serving in the Army, was a squad leader attached to the 196th Light Infantry Brigade, Company B, 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry and stationed in Tay Ninh Province, Vietnam.  [19670126 SSgt James N Byers]  http://twitpic.com/54t2ef

[…]

In past columns, we have shared the stories of some of the fallen heroes from the Vietnam War whose names are etched in the black granite memorial in the Carroll County Vietnam Memorial Park on Willis Street: Frederick John Magsamen, Christopher Jesse Miller Jr., Muriel Groomes, Joseph William Blickenstaff and Herbert Eugene Mulkey Jr… 



Photo courtesy of “Tours of Duty” Carroll County and the Vietnam War by Gary D. Jestes and Jay A. Graybeal; on sale at the Historical Society of Carroll County.



Historical Society of Carroll County
210 East Main Street, Westminster MD 21157
(410) 848-6494

@ExploreCarroll Dayhoff: Recalling a fallen son of Carroll SSgt James Norman Byers http://tinyurl.com/3lxqbmr


Vietnam, History, military, Memorial Day, Historical Society of Carroll County, Carrie Ann Knauer, Jay Graybeal  Labels: Annual Memorial Day, Dayhoff writing essays Vietnam, Military Vietnam, Military Vietnam Byers James N,Military Vietnam CC Memorial

Related: Memorial Day: Honoring the sacrifice of Staff Sgt. James Norman Byers  By Kevin Dayhoff Wednesday, May 25, 2011 http://www.thetentacle.com/ShowArticle.cfm?mydocid=4418






[20110530 CB 2b asleep Memorial Day]

*****
Kevin Dayhoff Soundtrack: http://www.kevindayhoff.net/ Kevin Dayhoff Art: http://www.kevindayhoffart.com/
My http://www.explorecarroll.com/ columns appear in the copy of the Baltimore Sunday Sun that is distributed in Carroll County: https://subscribe.baltsun.com/Circulation/

“The Memorial Day nap”

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“The Memorial Day nap” May 30, 2011 Monday, Memorial Day in Westminster Maryland by Kevin Dayhoff

After a full day that included the annual Memorial Day parade, ceremonies at the Westminster Cemetery and the Carroll County Vietnam Memorial park in Westminster, and visiting with friends and family at the American Legion; even an ever-ready battery trooper, needs a nap.  And Pumba was careful to stand guard.



[20110530 CB 2b asleep Memorial Day] 





LABELS: ,







Vietnam, History, military, Memorial Day, Historical Society of Carroll County, Carrie Ann Knauer, Jay Graybeal  Labels: Annual Memorial Day, Dayhoff writing essays Vietnam, Military Vietnam, Military Vietnam Byers James N,Military Vietnam CC Memorial

Related: Memorial Day: Honoring the sacrifice of Staff Sgt. James Norman Byers  By Kevin Dayhoff Wednesday, May 25, 2011 http://www.thetentacle.com/ShowArticle.cfm?mydocid=4418






[20110530 CB 2b asleep Memorial Day]


Google profile: https://profiles.google.com/kevindayhoff/
Kevin Dayhoff Art: http://www.kevindayhoff.com/ (http://kevindayhoffart.blogspot.com/http://www.kevindayhoffart.com/ New Bedford Herald: http://kbetrue.livejournal.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevindayhoff
Google profile: https://profiles.google.com/kevindayhoff/
*****
Kevin Dayhoff Soundtrack: http://www.kevindayhoff.net/ Kevin Dayhoff Art: http://www.kevindayhoffart.com/
My http://www.explorecarroll.com/ columns appear in the copy of the Baltimore Sunday Sun that is distributed in Carroll County: https://subscribe.baltsun.com/Circulation/

“Tours of Duty: Carroll County MD and the Vietnam War” By Gary D. Jestes and Jay A. Graybeal



“Tours of Duty: Carroll County MD and the Vietnam War” By Gary D. Jestes and Jay A. Graybeal.

“Tours of Duty: Carroll County and the Vietnam War”

By Gary D. Jestes and Jay A. Graybeal.

The authors present the stories of Carroll County’s unsung heroes who served their country during the Vietnam War.  Includes biographical sketches, soldiers’ letters, a roster of servicemen, a bibliography of contemporary newspaper articles about the war.  $29






Historical Society of Carroll County
210 East Main Street, Westminster MD 21157
(410) 848-6494


About the book – and the authors, Jay Graybeal and Gary Jestes:

On Wednesday, November 12, 2008, Carroll County Times - http://www.carrollcountytimes.com/ - writer, Carrie Ann Knauer wrote:

Historian shares Carroll County Vietnam stories

In researching for a book on Carroll County’s Vietnam veterans, Jay Graybeal and Gary Jestes found a wealth of material in local newspaper archives and by collecting letters sent between soldiers and their loved ones.

They learned about Lt. Col. Charles I. Miller, who was one of the first Americans stationed in Vietnam, and was in fact part of the team to brief Gen. William Westmoreland, who in June 1964 was appointed the senior military commander of the United States’ armed forces in Vietnam, when he arrived in country.

They interviewed Sgt. Jerry Barnes, who told a story of hearing a scream from the cook one night in the camp and discovered a cobra in the kitchen ready to strike. Barnes, Carroll’s state’s attorney, said he pulled out his M16 without hesitation and shot the snake, refrigerator, stove and about everything else in the kitchen, except the cook, Graybeal said.

They read the stories in Carroll newspapers about the war and the reactions from residents on whether demonstrations were an appropriate way of showing dissatisfaction with American forces’ participation in the conflict.

Graybeal shared these stories Tuesday at the Historical Society of Carroll County’s Box Lunch Talk. Jestes, who was also scheduled to speak Tuesday, was unable to attend because of illness, Graybeal said.

Timmi Pierce, executive director of the Historical Society, said it was fitting to have a talk on the Vietnam veterans Tuesday because Veterans Day fell on the normally scheduled day for the lunch talk. Pierce used the opportunity to recognize the dozen or so veterans in attendance at the talk, including four Vietnam veterans.

“It’s fitting that we’re in this building [American Legion Post 31], which honors veterans seven days a week,” Graybeal said during his opening.

Graybeal is the chief curator of the Army Heritage and Education Center in Carlisle, Pa., where he has been working on the center’s Vietnam collection, which will be dedicated Friday, he said.

Jestes and Graybeal started the research for their book, “Tours of Duty: Carroll County and the Vietnam War,” when Graybeal was still at the Historical Society. They spent more than 10 years on the research and writing before it was published last year, he said.

“We joke it took longer for us to write the book than to fight the war,” Graybeal said.

Graybeal gave a general overview of the timeline of the Vietnam War, then listed some of the Carroll servicemen who are highlighted in the book, including Rick Will Sr., Sgt. Gary Hammett, Capt. Richard N. Dixon and Maj. Harold J. Robertson. Several heads in the audience nodded in recognition of the names and faces being broadcast on the projector screen.

“It’s wrenching to read, but it’s important to see the sacrifices that were made,” Graybeal said of the book.

There was so much dissension surrounding the Vietnam War, and a lot of myths were spun out of that dissension, Graybeal said. He read from a list of exposed myths about Vietnam veterans, which showed that Vietnam soldiers were not as young, uneducated, underprivileged or unwilling as people believed. For example, while the draft got so much attention during the Vietnam War, only one-third of the soldiers to serve in Vietnam were drafted, and two-thirds were voluntary recruits, Graybeal said. Those statistics are the opposite of World War II’s, he said.

Despite people’s personal views, no one can deny the way the war affected the nation and its future, Graybeal said.

“It forever changed our views as Americans of our role in the world,” he said.


[20110525 HSCC book order form] [20071108 Tours of Duty] [20110524 sdosm Tours of Duty Carroll County and the Vietnam War] [20110524 sdosm Tours of Duty CC and Vietnam War wpics]


Vietnam, History, military, Memorial Day, Historical Society of Carroll County, Carrie Ann Knauer, Jay Graybeal  Labels: Annual Memorial Day, Dayhoff writing essays Vietnam, Military Vietnam, Military Vietnam Byers James N,Military Vietnam CC Memorial

Related: Memorial Day: Honoring the sacrifice of Staff Sgt. James Norman Byers  By Kevin Dayhoff Wednesday, May 25, 2011 http://www.thetentacle.com/ShowArticle.cfm?mydocid=4418






[20110530 CB 2b asleep Memorial Day]




“Tours of Duty: Carroll County MD and the Vietnam War” By Gary D. Jestes and Jay A. Graybeal.

*****
*****
Kevin Dayhoff Soundtrack: http://www.kevindayhoff.net/ Kevin Dayhoff Art: http://www.kevindayhoffart.com/
My http://www.explorecarroll.com/ columns appear in the copy of the Baltimore Sunday Sun that is distributed in Carroll County: https://subscribe.baltsun.com/Circulation/

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

“Tours of Duty: Carroll County MD and the Vietnam War” By Gary D. Jestes and Jay A. Graybeal.

“Tours of Duty: Carroll County and the Vietnam War”

By Gary D. Jestes and Jay A. Graybeal.

The authors present the stories of Carroll County’s unsung heroes who served their country during the Vietnam War.  Includes biographical sketches, soldiers’ letters, a roster of servicemen, a bibliography of contemporary newspaper articles about the war.  $29



Historical Society of Carroll County
210 East Main Street, Westminster MD 21157
(410) 848-6494


About the book – and the authors, Jay Graybeal and Gary Jestes:

On Wednesday, November 12, 2008, Carroll County Times - http://www.carrollcountytimes.com/ - writer, Carrie Ann Knauer wrote:

Historian shares Carroll County Vietnam stories

In researching for a book on Carroll County’s Vietnam veterans, Jay Graybeal and Gary Jestes found a wealth of material in local newspaper archives and by collecting letters sent between soldiers and their loved ones.

They learned about Lt. Col. Charles I. Miller, who was one of the first Americans stationed in Vietnam, and was in fact part of the team to brief Gen. William Westmoreland, who in June 1964 was appointed the senior military commander of the United States’ armed forces in Vietnam, when he arrived in country.

They interviewed Sgt. Jerry Barnes, who told a story of hearing a scream from the cook one night in the camp and discovered a cobra in the kitchen ready to strike. Barnes, Carroll’s state’s attorney, said he pulled out his M16 without hesitation and shot the snake, refrigerator, stove and about everything else in the kitchen, except the cook, Graybeal said.

They read the stories in Carroll newspapers about the war and the reactions from residents on whether demonstrations were an appropriate way of showing dissatisfaction with American forces’ participation in the conflict.

Graybeal shared these stories Tuesday at the Historical Society of Carroll County’s Box Lunch Talk. Jestes, who was also scheduled to speak Tuesday, was unable to attend because of illness, Graybeal said.

Timmi Pierce, executive director of the Historical Society, said it was fitting to have a talk on the Vietnam veterans Tuesday because Veterans Day fell on the normally scheduled day for the lunch talk. Pierce used the opportunity to recognize the dozen or so veterans in attendance at the talk, including four Vietnam veterans.

“It’s fitting that we’re in this building [American Legion Post 31], which honors veterans seven days a week,” Graybeal said during his opening.

Graybeal is the chief curator of the Army Heritage and Education Center in Carlisle, Pa., where he has been working on the center’s Vietnam collection, which will be dedicated Friday, he said.

Jestes and Graybeal started the research for their book, “Tours of Duty: Carroll County and the Vietnam War,” when Graybeal was still at the Historical Society. They spent more than 10 years on the research and writing before it was published last year, he said.

“We joke it took longer for us to write the book than to fight the war,” Graybeal said.

Graybeal gave a general overview of the timeline of the Vietnam War, then listed some of the Carroll servicemen who are highlighted in the book, including Rick Will Sr., Sgt. Gary Hammett, Capt. Richard N. Dixon and Maj. Harold J. Robertson. Several heads in the audience nodded in recognition of the names and faces being broadcast on the projector screen.

“It’s wrenching to read, but it’s important to see the sacrifices that were made,” Graybeal said of the book.

There was so much dissension surrounding the Vietnam War, and a lot of myths were spun out of that dissension, Graybeal said. He read from a list of exposed myths about Vietnam veterans, which showed that Vietnam soldiers were not as young, uneducated, underprivileged or unwilling as people believed. For example, while the draft got so much attention during the Vietnam War, only one-third of the soldiers to serve in Vietnam were drafted, and two-thirds were voluntary recruits, Graybeal said. Those statistics are the opposite of World War II’s, he said.

Despite people’s personal views, no one can deny the way the war affected the nation and its future, Graybeal said.

“It forever changed our views as Americans of our role in the world,” he said.


[20110525 HSCC book order form] [20071108 Tours of Duty] [20110524 sdosm Tours of Duty Carroll County and the Vietnam War] [20110524 sdosm Tours of Duty CC and Vietnam War wpics]

Vietnam, History, military, Memorial Day, Historical Society of Carroll County, Carrie Ann Knauer, Jay Graybeal  Labels:Annual Memorial DayDayhoff writing essays VietnamMilitary VietnamMilitary Vietnam Byers James N,Military Vietnam CC Memorial

Related: Memorial Day: Honoring the sacrifice of Staff Sgt. James Norman Byers  By Kevin Dayhoff Wednesday, May 25, 2011 http://www.thetentacle.com/ShowArticle.cfm?mydocid=4418




*****
Kevin Dayhoff Soundtrack: http://www.kevindayhoff.net/ Kevin Dayhoff Art: http://www.kevindayhoffart.com/
My http://www.explorecarroll.com/ columns appear in the copy of the Baltimore Sunday Sun that is distributed in Carroll County: https://subscribe.baltsun.com/Circulation/
*****