A memorial honoring Marines and sailors who died during the Vietnam War and were part of the “Fighting Fifth” Marine Regiment will begin its cross-country journey Thursday, March 22, when it departs from Rock of Ages foundry in Vermont en route to the 5th Marine Regiment Memorial Garden at Camp San Mateo on Camp Pendleton.
The 50-ton monument — traveling in sections on three flatbed trucks, each driven by a veteran — will be accompanied by dozens of volunteer Patriot Guard riders.
“What this memorial means to all Marines on the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War, is fallen but not forgotten,” said Vietnam veteran Steve Colwell, who with fellow Vietnam veteran Nick Warr came up with the idea for the monument and worked with the Dana Point 5th Marine Regiment Support Group and military leaders at Camp Pendleton to make it a reality.
“This is a reminder to today’s generation that the Vietnam warrior is a brave and honorable warrior and the memorial validates their bravery and their service,” Colwell said. “I hope that in some way the memorial makes up for the homecoming we all suffered when we returned to an ungrateful nation.”
The black granite monument created by Rock of Ages has six panels honoring 2,706 Marines, Navy corpsmen and a chaplain, Vincent Robert Capodanno, killed in action while serving with a Marine Corps infantry unit. Their names are inscribed on the panels surrounding a 14-foot-tall black granite spire.
It also includes the names of Marines and sailors who died as part of the 2nd Battalion, Fourth Marines.
Among the names are 13 Marines awarded the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest military honor for personal acts of valor.
The image of the iconic battle cross – helmet, rifle, bayonet and boots – is etched into all four sides of the granite. The monument also includes combat chronology of the 5th Marines during the Vietnam War.
The monument is scheduled to depart Graniteville, Vt., at 8 a.m. Thursday on what will be about a six-day trip. The itinerary includes several stops along the way including in Nashville, Tenn.; Dallas, Texas; and Yuma, Ariz.
It is scheduled to arrive at Veterans Memorial Park in Stand Vista Park in Dana Point at 1 p.m. March 27, where it will remain for two days. The monument will arrive at Camp Pendleton on March 29, declared National Vietnam Veteran’s Day by President Donald Trump, and will be installed in the garden during a ceremony on Memorial Day, May 28.
The $400,000 to fund the monument comes from private and public sources. Four South Orange County cities have helped: Dana Point, contributing $10,000; San Clemente, $5,000; Rancho Santa Margarita, $2,500; and Irvine, $10,000. About $60,000 is still needed.
The 5th Marines, the most highly decorated regiment in the Marine Corps, deployed to Vietnam on March 5, 1966. They remained there for five years, until April 1971.
Colwell, 74, of Carlsbad, plans to join the monument caravan in Nashville on Friday along with Mike Joseph, a highly decorated Marine Corps Vietnam veteran, a retired captain, from Newport Beach.
Colwell and Warr, 73, came up with the idea for the monument during a visit to Camp Pendleton in 2014 during a 1st Marine Division reunion. They stopped off at the Memorial Garden at Camp San Mateo.
The garden — created and funded by the Dana Point 5th Marine Regiment Support Group — is home to Marines who have died in action and is a place of reflection for those who come to remember them. Two monuments there honor Marines and sailors who were killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Colwell, who served as an officer with the 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, and Warr, who fought as an infantry officer with Charlie Company in the 5th Marines, noted during the visit that there was nothing in the garden recognizing those who lost their lives in Vietnam.
“I feel strongly there should be a representation for the Marines and sailors who were killed in Vietnam,” said Colwell. “These young men raised their hands and enlisted in the Marine Corps for an unpopular war.”
The hardest job, they said, was finding the names of those who served with the 5th Marine Regiment and died in Vietnam. That fell to Brian Coty, a board member of the Dana Point 5th Marine Regiment Support Group. He worked with the Coffelt Database of Vietnam casualties to make sure no name is left out.
“You look at these people like Cpl. Kenneth Rae McGuire, who died in Okinawa from a combination of pneumonia and bronchitis. He got three Purple Hearts but didn’t get added at the memorial in D.C. until the last minute,” Coty said.
“It’s amazing what these guys did and to have them memorialized and have it all come together. People don’t realize how much time is involved.”
To donate to the memorial, visit 5thmarinevietnammemorial.org
