For many Americans, the Vietnam War was a defining and divisive chapter in history. It was the first war broadcast directly into living rooms on television, exposing the nation to its brutal realities.

Sadly, unlike veterans of later conflicts, many Vietnam veterans returned home without a hero’s welcome. Instead, they often sought to quietly rebuild their lives, haunted by the horrors they had seen.

Illinois lost an estimated 2,936 men in Vietnam – the sixth-highest toll among all states. Dozens were from local communities, and their sacrifices continue to resonate with family and friends.

Twenty men from Joliet died in the war, including Marine Lance Cpl. John Lewis, 20. His father had served in World War II. Lewis was killed on Feb. 17, 1968, during a search-and-destroy mission in Thua Thien Province after his unit came under heavy fire. He died from gunshot wounds just four months into his deployment.

Also from Joliet, Army Pvt. Henry Lopez, 20, died on Feb. 5, 1967, along the Cambodian border during an enemy firefight. He and two comrades were killed by multiple fragmentation wounds. In 2005, his nephew George Lopez wrote, “I think about you often, along with the rest of the family.”

Army Pvt. John Burzawa, 23, died on Jan. 25, 1968, in Quang Nam Province. A friend recalled in 2005 that Burzawa’s father “never got over the loss of his only son.” Before his deployment, Burzawa had married and fathered a child he never met.

From Lockport, Army Pvt. William Carroll died in Thua Thien Province on March 27, 1968, at just 18 years old.

Four soldiers from Oregon also lost their lives, including Navy Petty Officer Richard Cheek, 21. During a river assault in Cam Son on Sept. 15, 1967, Cheek neutralized several enemy bunkers before his weapon jammed. He then manned an unmanned 30-caliber machine gun alone until killed by an antitank grenade. Cheek was one of five men killed in that assault. He was survived by his wife, who lived with her parents in Byron, and by his own parents.

Marine Cpl. Lawrence Myers, a 1966 graduate of Cary-Grove High School, entered service in 1967 and was killed in Quang Nam on Oct. 6, 1968. A 2015 classmate remembered him as “a great person and human being.” Another classmate called him “the epitome of a great Marine.”

On Nov. 10, 1969, Army Sgt. Paul Woolford, 23, of Streator was killed by an explosive device in Vinh Province. He was one of six men from Streator who died in the war. In 2021, a childhood friend recalled, “He often invited me to his house, and we would do things with his family. Like him, they were generous, friendly and unassuming. Happy days were those.”

Among eight men from Ottawa who died was Army Specialist Gerald Dean Jerde, 22. He was killed on May 11, 1969, during an enemy attack on Landing Zone Oasis, an Army base southeast of Pleiku. Ten American soldiers died in the attack, another died of wounds three days later, and three were captured and repatriated in 1973. Jerde’s father, a World War II Pacific theater veteran, survived him. In 2022, a friend wrote, “Fifty-three years is a long time for your family and friends to miss you.”

Army Sgt. Milfred Dingman, 41, also from Ottawa, died on March 11, 1969, in Kontum. In 2015, his grandson, Marine Cpl. Matthew Dingman, who served in the Middle East, wrote, “I never met my grandfather, but I have always known his legacy. … It wasn’t until my first tour that I truly understood what it is like to love, more than yourself, the men that stand next to you. This Memorial Day, I will toast to you and all the other gunfighters who wrote that blank check to Uncle Sam.”

Dale Moore, 20, an Army Specialist Four from Princeton, died in Tay Ninh Province on Feb. 19, 1967. One of 12 children, Moore’s nephew wrote years later, “It’s been forty years this February, but we still remember.”

For those who lost loved ones and friends in Vietnam, the memory of their sacrifice remains vivid.

• Tom Emery is a freelance writer and historical researcher from Carlinville, Illinois. He may be reached at 217-710-8392 or ilcivilwar@yahoo.com.