Vietnam Wall inspires research into lives of 6 Pulaski County vets

May 29—Stuart Marshall Binkley. Randall J. Nightingale. John W. Parcel. E. Gerald "Jerry" Shank Jr. Larry Gene Bonnell. Richard W. Podell.

They were six Pulaski County men who were college graduates, husbands, fathers. They each lost their life in the Vietnam War.

In January, Mackenzie Ledley, the Pulaski County Public Library executive director, and Malissa Poor, the library's volunteer genealogist, began researching the lives of the six men who are listed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington D.C.

Poor said her father served three tours in Vietnam. Marshall Poor retired after 20 years of service.

"The Vietnam veterans are close to my heart, having a father who had survived it and had to live with the aftermath when they came home," Poor said. "One thing he always said was 'people were not kind when we returned.'"

When the Vietnam War ended, the soldiers who fought in it, many drafted into service, were met with derision when they returned to the US.

Poor thought the nation was doing better at supporting the Vietnam veterans but many still do not want to talk about their experience, and that included the families of the Pulaski County men who lost their lives during the war.

In March, Ledley's saw the Vietnam Wall and, along with her eight-year-old son, found the names of the six men.

"What is a name?" she said. "We can see the name but that was a person. That was someone's child, someone's brother, someone's friend. You see their name on the Wall and on the etchings but it doesn't say they left behind their family. They left behind their friends. We wanted to make it so that if someone wanted to visit the Wall they could learn more about these men and the sacrifices they gave."

Ledley said she was surprised to learn some of the men had wives and children. Nightingale was married with twin daughters. Shank had a wife and four children. Binkley was also married.

Five of the men attended college. Binkley graduated from IU. Parcel was attending Ball State. Shank graduated from Notre Dame. Bonnell from Purdue and Podell from Indiana State.

And the circumstances of their deaths were heartbreaking.

"One story that really stuck with me has been Larry Bonnell's story," Ledley said. "He was a young man and he sang in the (Winamac Methodist Church) choir. Right before he left, he sang a solo of the song "Let There Be Peace on Earth." He went to Vietnam. He died."

More research led the women discovering that a high school classmate of Bonnell's was in the same vehicle when Bonnell died. His classmate survived.

"That man came home knowing his friend hadn't," Ledley said. "The burdens that these people carry with them every day as they live their lives. Some of the families have been reluctant to speak about it. Even after all of these years it's still raw for them."

Shank was the first to lose his life on March 24, 1964, during a dive-bombing run.

Nightingale's aircraft disappeared at sea on March 17, 1968. His body was never found. Podell's remains weren't identified until 2018. Vietnamese villages had turned over remains from an aircraft crash in 1994, but it took 24 years for science to progress in a way that the remains could be identified through DNA testing.

Ledley said one of the surprises they discovered was that the men all came from the eastside of the county.

Maps to the veterans' graves can be found at the Pulaski County Library, the Winamac VFW (1066 S. Monticello St.) and the library webpage and Facebook page.

The library has a small display with the veterans' info that visitors can see. The display includes etchings from the Vietnam Wall. Ledley said people can apply for free etchings from the Wall and volunteers will make the etchings of the names requested.

The women hope people will come and take the tour and honor the six Pulaski County veterans who lost their lives in Vietnam. They also hope that if someone in the community knew one of the men, they will visit the library and share their stories.

The Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall will be in Indiana June 9-11, stopping at the Ernie Pyle WWII Museum (120 W. Briarwood Ave.) in Dana, Ind.

The Pulaski County Public Library is located at 21 S. Riverside Dr. More info can be found at pulaskicounty.lib.in.us.