“Local Vietnam History” is a class and multi-year in which students are interviewing the friends and loved ones of area servicemen who were killed while serving in the Vietnam War. The students then take those interviews and write a short biography of each serviceman, preserving the memories of how they lived before the war. When complete, the plan is to compile the biographies and publish an anthology.

“What we wanted to do is honor the lives who were lost in Vietnam,” T.J. Martin, dean of distance learning at Iowa Central, said. “Our goal is to bring their memory to life.”

Martin has collected dozens of names of service members from Iowa Central’s nine-county region to include in the book, and for the last several semesters, students have been chipping away at the list. There’s about 55 names on the list, Martin said.

Though the regular class is not in session, a few students have chosen to continue the project over the summer through a non-credit class. They’re focused on the 19 names left on the list — names they haven’t been able to contact any survivors for.

-Submitted photo
U.S. Air Force Lt. Delbert Peterson, a Manson native, was killed in action in Vietnam on March 9, 1966. He was 26 years old. Peterson was posthumously promoted to the rank of major.

A few months ago, The Messenger published a story on this project and the list of names Martin needed information for, and many readers reached out with leads, helping shorten the list.

“We want to thank the public for their help with this project,” Martin said. “We appreciate their response.”

When it comes to information about the servicemen remaining on the list, Martin’s students are asking for any leads about contacting surviving family members, friends or classmates of the men. Sometimes, Martin said, connecting with a distant relative of the deceased helps lead them to a closer connection. They’re all different pieces of the puzzle, he said.

A.J. Murray, a student from Fort Dodge, first took the class for this project last spring semester and was so dedicated to it, he decided to continue working on it this summer, even after he graduated from Iowa Central.

“I just wanted to continue the project to see it grow,” Murray said. “Because once I started it, I was invested.”

-Submitted photo
Richard Flattery, third from the left, received a 4-H cattle award in his youth. Flattery was a leuitenant in the U.S. Army's 1st Cavalry Division when he was killed at age 22 in the Thua Thien Province of South Vietnam on May 20, 1968.

Martin said it’s important for these stories to be preserved now, because as time marches on, fewer and fewer people alive have memories of these men who served their country and made the ultimate sacrifice.

Anyone with information or leads on how to contact family and friends of the men on the list are asked to contact Martin at martin@iowacentral.edu or 515-574-1097.

Survivor information is needed for the following service members:

• Spc. 4 Dwight Earl Hinman, of Blemond

• Chief Warrant Officer Thomas Richard Poundstone and Pfc. Richard Wehrheim, of Clarion.

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U.S. Army Pfc. Henry Claussen, a native of Palmer, was killed in a firefight in Vietnam on May 29, 1968, at the age of 22. Claussen was a 1964 graduate of Palmer High School.

• Pfc. John Herbert Platt, of Early.

• Constructionman David Allen Fleskes, Spc. 4 Donald Henry Holm, Sgt. Donald Kay Lakey, Spc. 4 William Harrison Pease and Spc. 4 Joseph Trotter, of Fort Dodge.

• Pfc. Rickey Eugene Swaney, of Grand Junction.

• Petty Officer 3rd Class Steven Dwight Sears, of High View

• Spc. 4 Wayne Thomas McGuire, of Peterson.

-Submitted photo
U.S. Navy Hospital Corpsman Roger Olson, a Fort Dodge native, was killed by a mine in the Thua Thien Province in South Vietnam while attached to the U.S. Marine Corps' 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, on March 26, 1968. Olson was 20 years old.

• Capt. Calvin William Binder II, of Rembrandt.

• Col. Keith Russell Heggen, of Renwick.

• Staff Sgt. Waldo Alva Williams, of Rockwell City.

• Maj. Herman Smits Jr., of Scranton.

• Sgt. Thomas William Carrington, of Storm Lake.

• Spc. 4 LaRoy Frederich Roth, of Lake City.

• Sgt. 1st Class Grayson Jerald West