Posey's Vietnam legacy - honoring veterans and casualties

This weekend, thousands of people, including many Vietnam Vets, will be in Mount Vernon for The Moving Wall display.

Laurence Zeller, a Posey County soldier killed in Vietnam, is seen here during his service.

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This death notice for Terry Broady, a Posey County soldier who died in Vietnam is on file at the Lyndon B. Johnson library in Austin, Texas. It was submitted by Robert Sage, a Vietnam historian from Austin.

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Larry Rush, a Posey County resident who died in Vietnam at age 19, is one of seven Posey County soldiers on The Wall. Posey County has little information on Rush. Anyone with information on him, his time of service or his death is asked to contact the Mount Vernon Democrat at 838-4811. Thanks.

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The town and the Mount Vernon Democrat have been preparing for the event for some time. We had a special section in this week’s paper, and the Posey County Historical Society has helped us contact the families of Vietnam casualties in Posey County and research the Vietnam-Era and its impact on the county in other ways.
Through our research, we are coming across more and more information daily.
This blog has been created as a way for us to share that information — fact, photos, memories, memorabilia, etc., — concerning Posey County’s Vietnam veterans.
Since our section published, we’ve had readers call us with information on more casualties with family in the county, and we expect the visit of The Wall to draw out more people with information.
We hope veterans as well as other community members will use this as an opportunity to help the Mount Vernon Democrat and Posey County historians preserve the legacy of its Vietnam veterans.
During research for stories out the seven Posey County names listed on the wall that we know about, I came across a man who has taken it upon himself to learn as much about the Vietnam casualties as possible, mainly where these guys are buried. His name is Robert Sage, and he lives in Austin, Texas. There are many more out there like him – men, and women, whose lives are forever changed because of the time they spent in Vietnam, and because of the men they’ve seen die.
The remembrances they leave on virtual wall websites shows how their memories still haunt them and the bonds they still feel with one another are as strong or stronger than the families they’ve known all their lives.
Serving in a conflict that created great controversy back home, the sacrifices of these soldiers often took a back seat to political argument and protest.
The irony is, those on both sides felt the way they felt because of their desire to protect and preserve human life and freedoms.
I recently saw on Facebook that a friend, a Vietnam Vet in Spencer County who now serves as superintendent of South Spencer schools, attended a Welcome Home ceremony for Vietnam vets at Fort Knox in Ky. It was good to see, but it was sad to think that it’s just now happening. It’s long, long overdue.
Hopefully, this blog, among other projects, will allow us to help Posey County preserve the stories of sacrifice and the legacy of its Vietnam veterans and casualties.
Attached are a couple of photos from our section, as well as an official death record preserved in the LBJ Library in Austin. The record was provided by Sage.