FATHER'S DAY "In memory" ROSE REMEMBRANCE

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US Navy seaman Richard David Vollman's name will likely never be engraved on the Vietnam Memorial Wall.

Vollman, a Navy mechanic during the Vietnam War, died in August 2002 of leukemia at age 52. "But for 28 years after he came home from the war, he began to suffer from diabetes, leukemia, and passed away in Audie Murphy VA Hospital in San Antonio," his wife, Karen, said. Karen Vollman attended the ceremony bringing with her a picture of her husband and left it at the Vietnam Wall as part of the In Memory Day ceremony at the Vietnam Memorial Wall at the Woodring Wall of Honor and Veteran’s Park.  The ceremony is held on each Saturday,  of the Father's Day weekend annually.

"It's never easy to lose a spouse and this is all part of our healing process," said Karen, "My husband was a great man, a hard worker and a dedicated Navy veteran. His job involved activity around the aircraft, weapons and chemicals. It was later documented that his death was caused from exposure to the herbicide Agent Orange. Prior to his death he was declared 100% disabled from the service-connected disability."

"With the addition of the Vietnam Memorial Wall to the veteran’s park, this is ta special ceremony to honor the men and women who have died indirectly from their service in Vietnam, this is one of biggest things I could ever do for him to honor him and his service. People think Vietnam veterans were a forgotten group, and they're not, thanks to the efforts of the Woodring Wall of Honor who brought it here to Enid."

This ceremony dedicated to the unsung heroes is called the "In Memory" program. It honors Vietnam veterans whose deaths do not meet Department of Defense criteria for their names to be added to the wall. A special monument to remember those who died indirectly from their service in Vietnam is placed in the flagpole center of the park.

Red roses are laid in honor of those killed in action. Yellow roses are laid in honor of our POW/MIA. White roses are laid in honor of those who returned home and later died as a result of their service. 

Most have died, years after the war, from various forms of cancer believed caused by Agent Orange. "Sadly, some of the things that ultimately killed these men were things that were gotten through their service," said Elaine Johns, Executive Director of the Woodring Wall of Honor and Veterans Park where the Vietnam Memorial Wall is located. "These men and women who are honored each year, bring recognition to the fact that they may not have fallen on the ground on foreign soil, but physically and mentally, the struggles they go through are sometimes harder than if they had died overseas."

Others have died of PTSD-related suicides, according to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, which built the original wall in Washington DC and started the In Memory program to honor those whose names won't be carved into the granite.

Father's Day is a time to honor all of our fathers, and the Woodring Wall of Honor will continue the annual tradition of paying special tribute to those fathers who died as a result of the Vietnam War. The Father's Day Rose Remembrance ceremony features beautiful symbolism, emotional tributes and elegant reverence in recognition of fathers, sons, brothers, and friends who perished in Vietnam or later of Vietnam-related causes.