The “mysterious” Vietnam Memorial
Mary sends us this video of a Vietnam Memorial tucked away in the mountains of Colorado. The narrative of the person who took the video and posted it at Military.com says;
“Cycle ride from Tomichi Creek off of Highway 50 near Gunnison, CO up to the Continental Divide, where we found this war memorial tucked away in seclusion. You won’t find it on any maps. An old local at the Tomichi Trading Post said the Park Rangers keep it off maps…the story is that a Vietnam Vet somehow used a chopper to sneak the pieces in. If anyone knows the true story, I’d love to hear it.” Some additional info can be found at the Denver Post
Category: Support the troops
Wow!
En larmes.
My uncle was born and raised in Gunnison. I’ll send this to him and see if he knows anything about it.
Also, I think your “N” key broke, haha. 🙂
Very cool. Hooah for the folks who made it, for the folks who didn’t.
This could be an episode on our friend Don Wildmans current show on the Travel Channel “Monumental Mystries”.
Oh, hell no.
– Obama administration response right before furiously working to get it removed.
Huh.
I wonder. Maybe someone currently squatting in our Offal Office learned of this and that’s what triggered the closing of all non destructionist oriented monuments?
lat/lon = 38.292033, -106.371415
Directions I found on da interwebs …
The memorial is off the trail, on Sargents Mesa, maybe 6-7 miles, as the crow flies, south of the town of Sargents, CO, which is east of Gunnison, along Highway 50. Closest town marked is Chester. Take Milk Crk (a partial dirt road), about 6-7 miles south out of Chester to the mesa.
If you look up the location on Google Earth you may have another idea of how to get there.
Several pictures are here
Good pictures.
It’s more likely that it isn’t listed and is kept off the maps to keep vandals from defacing it. I noticed how people are leaving live rounds and coins and other things behind. They know.
Simply an amazing tribute/memorial… got goose bumps watching the video, just knowing the emotion that had to go into building that and putting it out there like that.
Never Forget.
Luke 19:40 He said in reply, “I tell you, if they keep silent, the stones will cry out!”
Simple and very moving Joe
What do you expect from a country that spit on us vets when we came home? Turned their backs about agent orange! And treats todays vets worse. Not the VA, just the country, oh how about water contamination at Camp Lejeune? Delay, Deny, Death! MGySgt. Daniel Hudson, USMC (Special Operator) Airborne, scuba, pathfinder, 2 tours Vietnam, survival instructor.
Ah … Attention Walmart Shoppers … Credential Check in Aisle 4.
Things like this restore me. They heal the heart. It is not for those who never served or never knew the intimate details of a war, or for those who think they know but have no idea. What matters is that WE know, each of us; the night patrols, the interminable guard shifts, the panic of combat, the differences between the line and the REMFs, and the deep rooted loss of friends who have known you more completely than a lover. We know, we remember, and we take care of our own. Thank you to whoever built this, and to those who keep it. I would fight again for men like you.
the story i heard is it was created by SF Vietnam vet named Stuart Allen Beckley, (LtC, ret) more than 20 yrs ago. he used his own money and his own time.
Ltc Beckley, dying of cancer, got permission from the parks service to build this monument. He then asked 10th Special Forces Group if they would be willing to take on the task of building the monument. ODA. ( A team ) 056 volunteered for that honor. They spent almost 2 weeks completing the task. Ltc Beckly did receive news of its completion as well as pictures prior to his death. The monument itself is meant to be private. For those who stumble across it. Hunters- hikers. I had the honor of building this with my detachment- a hard job we did willingly! It was an honor to serve a final request of a fellow warrior and brother