Servicemen left off memorial

MONTROSE SHOPPING PARK — More than 40 years after the Vietnam War Memorial here was first dedicated, community members learned that five local servicemen had been left off the plaques.

First dedicated in 1968, the memorial at the corner of Ocean View Boulevard and Honolulu Avenue currently lists 14 names of men from Montrose, La Crescenta, La Cañada Flintridge and Tujunga that were killed while serving in Vietnam.

The missing names were discovered when retired Glendale firefighter Bill Dodson, who has maintained the memorial for decades, asked a friend to research the history behind the names on the memorial.

“I was shocked,” Dodson said. “It all just kind of happened by accident because I was looking for information about the names that were on there.”

The five fallen servicemen left off the Montrose memorial are listed as residents of Montrose, La Crescenta, La Cañada and Tujunga, according to the official Internet database of the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington D.C.

It is unclear why they were left off the memorial, Dodson said, although two of them had been classified as missing in action and were not declared dead until years after the memorial was built.

Dodson has since notified Councilman John Drayman and the Montrose Shopping Park Assn., which oversees the memorial, of his discovery.

Dale Dawson, president of the association, said the cost of adding new plaques to the memorial would be absorbed within the organization’s budget.

Officials are first vetting the names and attempting to contact family members, he said. They are also researching the original manufacturer of the bronze plaques so any updates will match.

“It’s not a difficult thing to do, but you want to be sensitive and do it well and do it right,” Dawson said.

He was surprised family members had not notified shopping park officials of the missing names sooner, he added.

“I’m kind of surprised that it never came up before, considering the war memorial is well known to have been here,” Dawson said.

Dodson, a World War II military veteran and father of two Vietnam War veterans, said he was proud to have contributed to the memorial.

“Being a veteran, I understood that these names were important,” he said.

INFOBOX

Norman Richard Kidd Jr. (1936-1967) captain in the U.S. Army, Montrose resident.

Roy Allen Fryman (1933-1969) Marine Corp gunnery sergeant, La Cañada resident.

Warren Richard Spencer Born in 1943, went MIA in 1972. Determined a casualty in 1976. Major in U.S. Air Force, La Crescenta resident.

Jerry Ray Murphy (1945-1966) helicopter technician in U.S. Army, Tujunga resident.

James Reginald Bauder, born in 1931, went MIA in 1966. Determined a casualty in 1978, captain in United States Navy, La Cañada resident.