DEFENSE and Air Attache with the US Embassy in Dublin, Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Martin will lay a wreath at a memorial honouring the men and women killed in service in South-East Asia, including the Viet Nam War, when it is officially unveiled in Ennis on Remembrance Day next week.
The memorial will be launched on Friday, November 11, in Monastery Park and has been designed by Rory Breslin. Also in attendance for the unveiling will be representatives of the American Legion in Ireland providing a bugler and US and Irish flags for the ceremony, representatives from Clare County Council, US Viet Nam veterans and other officials.
The memorial includes a list of those who served and lost their lives, along with the inscription, which read, “This memorial is dedicated to the Irish men and Irish women who served with allied forces in South-East Asia during the period 1964 through 1975.”
Below the names are the words, “We express our heartfelt gratitude for the service and sacrifice of those above and to their families, loved ones and the Irish nation.”
Work on the project began earlier this year, when the Irish Viet Nam Veterans Memorial Project (IVNVMP) was granted planning permission to construct the stone memorial. This came four years after members of the then local authority, Ennis Town Council, unanimously supported a proposal to erect the memorial.
John Dullahan, president of the IVNVMP, has been kept up to date at his home in America with the progress of the project here in Ennis. He told The Clare Champion that the images he has received of the memorial “look very impressive now that it’s on its permanent site”.
He confirmed the attendance of Lt Col Martin at the launch. He will not only lay a wreath but will also be the main speaker.
Mr Dullahan commented that the IVNVMP board members were “relieved and happy” that Clare County Council approved planning permission for the memorial earlier this year.
“Having served with the US in Viet Nam as an Irish citizen and being lucky enough to have returned unscathed to home and family, I am particularly grateful for Clare County Council’s approval of the erection of a memorial to those Irish men and one woman who lost their lives during that conflict,” he said.
The memorial was originally put forward to the council by a US-based veterans representative group after ex-veteran, Matthew Carroll, a frequent visitor to Clare, built up a relationship with local people. While the local authority supported the idea for the memorial, the plans did not come to fruition.
A visit to Ennis by Mr Dullahan, where he met with Brian O’Neill, Councillor Johnny Flynn and other local people, saw the proposal re-ignited, with designs for a more modest memorial planned. Mr Carroll will be among those who will be at next week’s ceremony, as well as his daughter, Vicky, who is now treasurer of the organisation.
The Irish Viet Nam Veterans Memorial Project’s leadership is made up of Irish-American Viet Nam veterans who have travelled extensively in Ireland. “The Irish Viet Nam Veterans Memorial Project is a single-purpose organisation, consisting of volunteers who have committed to establishing a permanent memorial in Ireland to honour the 2,500 Irish citizens who served with the United States and allied services in South-East Asia during the Viet Nam War.
“We believe that their service is deserving of this recognition. We hope that this project will not only memorialise their service but will facilitate the healing process for those men and women and their families, who continue to bear the scars of their service.
“The memorial will be a gift to our brothers and sisters, who served beside us during this most trying of times.”
Jessica Quinn
A native of Ennis, Colin McGann has been editor of The Clare Champion since August 2020. Former editor of The Clare People, he is a journalism and communications graduate of Dublin Institute of Technology.