The Informer: Unique memorial honored those who died in Vietnam
Last month, the city of Lake Charles Mayor's Armed Forces Commission unveiled the official Louisiana Vietnam Veterans Memorial on the lakefront. The three-sided memorial lists the names of the 885 Louisiana Vietnam War casualties.
The memorial is actually the second one in Lake Charles dedicated to those who died in Vietnam.
In 1968, the Young Men's Business Club of Lake Charles dedicated the Vietnam Conflict Memorial to the memory of Louisiana servicemen who died in the war.
At the time, it was said to be the only memorial of its kind in the world.
The unique monument also happened to be — at the time — the world's tallest bird house.
The 120-foot tall memorial had 46 aluminum bird houses with 1,116 nesting compartments that could accommodate 5,280 purple martins, according to a March 11, 1977, American Press article.
The monument was dedicated on Nov. 9, 1968, with the dedicatory address given by Navy Lt. Dieter Dengler, who served in Vietnam.
The pink marble marker at the base of the monument reads: 'In commemoration, we, the citizens of Louisiana, dedicate this memorial to peace, to our fellow Americans who have served or died in the armed forces of our country during the Vietnam conflict. By their devotion to our beloved nation have upheld, protected and defended the principles of true Americanism, that liberty and freedom might not perish from the earth.'
Gene Dolan, the YMBC chairman of the project, told the American Press that more than 10 years after the memorial's dedication, he continued to receive mail from around the world about it. He said the monument was also featured in articles that ran in newspapers 'from Japan to Rhodesia to Europe.'
'Purple martins are a peace bird,' Dolan said. 'With the Vietnam War, everybody wanted peace so we gave them birds.'
Dolan said the YMBC began selling purple martin bird houses in 1966 to raise money for the memorial tower. Even after the tower was erected, the group continued to sell the bird houses and used the money raised to plant trees and shrubbery in a triangular land area around the tower's base.
Though the land on which the memorial sat was owned by the state, the city of Lake Charles maintained the grounds even after the YMBC planted cedars, palms, flowering pushes, a Yucca plant and palm trees around the memorial.
Dolan said permission to erect the memorial on grounds came from Gov. John McKeithen.
On Sept. 17, 2005, Hurricane Rita destroyed the tower and its birdhouses. Afterward, the city formed what is now Veterans Memorial Park on the site.
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