This is a replica of the plaque which appears on a monument at Hurlburt Air Park, FL. The monument was dedicated on October 3, 1993 and honors all men lost in SEA 1964-1972 during A-1 operations. The dedication speech and a poem were written for the occasion by Skyraider pilot Bob Karre.
The following individuals died during Skyraider training missions flown out of Hurlburt Field, Florida.
64/11/09 Captain William J. Walsh
64/11/09 SecondLieutenant William A. Shagner III
65/06/24 Captain James J. Jines Jr. (Visit
his daughter's web
page for more info.)
65/06/24 Major Robert W. Robinson
65/06/24 Captain Edward L. Doyle
65/06/24 Major Donald L. Lumadue
66/11/08 Second Lieutenant Ha Xuong (VNAF)
67/09/26 Lieutenant Colonel Albert C. Hamby
67/09/26 Major William N. Kuykendall
67/11/15 Major Gerald L. Wollington
68/10/22 Capt John K. Stark
68/10/22 Major James C. Phillips
70/06/17 Lieutenant Colonel James J. Mihalick
70/06/17 Major O'Dell L. Riley
Following is the text of the speech given by Bob Karre to describe the purpose of the Skyraider Memorial at Hurlburt Air Park. The speech was given at the dedication ceremony on October 3, 1993:
"Ladies and gentlemen, we are here today to look back across the span of three decades and honor those one hundred and forty-four Americans who died in the A-1 Skyraider, during air operations in Southeast Asia.
We will not single out any individual, unit, or event; however, each of us will recognize names which will evoke a special memory and, I'm sure, each of us will recall missions, units, events, and callsigns which, in our mind, are legend, and which continue to have profound meaning in our lives.
Ladies and gentlemen, let us do this; let us dedicate our presence here today as a collective "hand salute" and a heartfelt "nickel on the grass" back across the intervening years, to all these one hundred forty-four old friends and proud Americans who, without reservation, signed up to the ultimate liability and paid the ultimate price.
May God bless both them, and our memorial to them."
