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Rockford citizens honor fallen veterans with a 21-gun salute, parade and ceremony on Monday morning.
ROCKFORD -The lives of three Parkway High School graduates - William Miller and Benny Sapp, both of the class of 1967, and Carey Fosnaugh of the class of 1968 - were tragically cut short while fighting in the Vietnam War.
People from Rockford, Willshire and elsewhere gathered at Veterans Memorial at Hedges Park on Memorial Day to pay their respects to the trio of men and others among the estimated 1.3 million Americans who have died for their country since the Revolutionary War.
Vietnam War veteran Bob Blackwell of North Carolina said Memorial Day holds a special place for those who served and have a personal connection to someone killed in action.
Vietnam War veteran Bob Blackwell addresses the crowd during his keynote speech.
Blackwell said three of his buddies in the 3rd Platoon affectionately known as "The Third Herd," including Fosnaugh, are inscribed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
"Since Carey and I arrived in Vietnam at the same time and were assigned to the same platoon, we became close friends," he said. "We shared a tent and over the course of time our lives became entwined with the communities and people we left behind."
Blackwell and Fosnaugh soon learned about each other's dreams, families and hometowns.
"One night as the bullets were straining overhead we made a pact that if one made it out alive and the other did not then the survivor would visit the deceased family," Blackwell said.
Reading an excerpt from the 4th Infantry Division Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol Rangers' tribute to Fosnaugh, Blackwell said Fosnaugh was part of the reactionary force summoned to come to the aide of a four-man Ranger team who were engaged in an active gun battle with a numerically greater enemy force.
Fosnaugh was killed in action at 20 on Jan. 23, 1970, in Binh Dinh.
"Fate placed Carey exactly where he needed to be when he was needed most, for the sake of the others in danger," he said. "He died in the most heroic and noble way a man can be asked, to intentionally place yourself in mortal danger while aiding another."
Nora Shaffer, 9, of Rockford, places wreaths on markers during Rockford's Memorial Day celebrations at Hedges Park.
Blackwell said after learning of Fosnaugh's death, his obligation to his fallen friend haunted him until the following September when he visited the Rockford/Willshire area to fulfill his duty - just as Fosnaugh "would have done if the situation were reversed."
When he arrived in the area, Blackwell said he was as nervous as he had been when the bullets were whizzing overhead. He wondered how he would be received by Fosnaugh's family and if they would resent him for making it out of Vietnam alive while Fosnaugh had not.
Blackwell met James and Virginia Fosnaugh in Willshire. Carey was their only son. The couple were very cordial to Blackwell and invited him to dinner, he said.
He also met Carey's widow, Carol, and her parents. Blackwell would go on to marry Carol.
"Carey talked about them so often I felt like I knew them already," Blackwell said. "I found them to be very warm and receptive just as Carey would have predicted. By the way Carey painted a picture of the Rockford/Willshire community I felt a bit of an attachment and I found the people to be as great as expected."
Blackwell remembered standing at Fosnaugh's grave. He was overtaken by a rush of memories, some sad, but most good. He recalled how Carey had talked about his job at GE, his friends back home, playing sports, pulling pranks, racing down back roads, hunting with the fellas, his father's flowers and other things teenagers enjoyed doing.
"How was I to know we would become such close friends in such a short time?" Blackwell asked. "How could I know that he would be gone at 20 years old. I was a head taller and larger target. Why not me rather than him?"
Fosnaugh had dreamed of going to school and becoming a coach after Vietnam, Blackwell said. He wondered aloud if his friend's dream would have come true had he lived. There's always more questions than answers, he added.
During his visits with Fosnaugh's family members, Blackwell said he also learned a little about Sapp and Miller, two other Willshire men killed in Vietnam. The Vietnam War, Blackwell said, claimed the lives of 58,209 American soldiers.
Rockford American Legion Post 508 members bow their heads in prayer.
These men were more than just names on a monument. They went to school, got into mischief, had friends and girlfriends, played sports and enjoyed life, he said. When asked they answered the call to service not realizing they would be giving the ultimate sacrifice to their country, Blackwell said.
They didn't get to enjoy the rest of their lives, and their blood is woven into the flag that is displayed every day, Blackwell said.
"We're all beneficiaries of their sacrifices," he said. "Our young students learn about these wars through enthusiastic teaching of teachers like Lucus Minnich at Parkway High. Memorial Day brings in focus all that is learned from their fellow citizens of all ages standing in cemeteries or monuments such as this, watching the flags in their memory."
The memories and impact of the three fallen Parkway High School graduates endure through the Carey, Bill and Benny Memorial Scholarship Award established in 1970.
Veteran Reed Shaffer kneels down to smile at his grandkids Mason and Mabel Shaffer after a 21-gun salute at Riverside Cemetery in Rockford on Memorial Day.
Rockford kids reach for American flags.
Parkway High School band marches down Main Street in Rockford playing patriotic tunes.
Parkway clarinet players parade down Main Street during Rockford Memorial Day celebrations.
A Parkway trombonist plays "Patriotic Parade Sequence" during Rockford Memorial Day celebrations.
