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| Pam Parker Schneck |
On US Highway 12 East in Aberdeen, on a grassy plain in Anderson Park just west of where Moccasin Creek crosses under the road, three tall dark granite stones surround a flagpole. Each granite slab is etched with a poem, a drawings of soldiers or the names of local men who died in the Vietnam War of the 1960s.
The moving memorial — quiet, slightly understated and sturdy — was designed by a 1966 graduate of Central High School, Pam Parker Schneck. The memorial made such an impression that Schneck went on to design more war memorials in South Dakota, Minnesota, Santa Cruz, NM, and other towns.
"It became the greatest honor I ever had," said the tall, quiet and talented artist. Schneck got the assignment because of her job at Rausch Brothers Monument Company, which has offices in Sioux Falls, Big Stone City and Sheldon, Iowa.
For the Aberdeen Vietnam Memorial, Schneck spent hours and hours with local veterans and studying books about the war. For the drawing of the soldier Schneck drew a picture of a friend who had a full uniform. Another panel contains a drawing of men in action during the war, including a PT-type boat, men aiding one another, and men in battle.
The most moving panel contains the names of Aberdonians who died in Vietnam. Many in our class served in Vietnam, but fortunately we had no direct casualties. The class of 1965 had at least two and the class of 1967 has several names on the memorial, and includes their job description, date of death and unit location in Vietnam. Those bases are familiar names to people of our generation: Da Nang, Pleiku, Chu Lai, Bien Hoa, Quang Tri, Dak To, and South China Sea.
Another panel contains a poem of remembrance, including
the words:
If you are able,
save for them a place
inside of you …
and save one backward glance
when you are leaving
for the places they can
no longer go.
Be not ashamed to say
you loved them,
though you may or
may not have always …
Take what they have left
and what they have taught you
with their dying
and keep it with your own …
and in that time
when men decide and feel safe
to call the war insane,
take one moment to embrace
these gentle heroes
