The Baltimore Sun from Baltimore, Maryland • 336

8 SUNDAY, MAY 28, 1989 HOWARD COUNTY SUN V' Vietnam veterans Those who gave their lives Vietnam memorial is another step in healing process than 3,500 veterans, families and friends will participate, including representatives from 18 Maryland counties and Baltimore city. Following the dedication ceremony, a group of fighter planes and helicopters from the Maryland Army National Guard will fly over. The memorial will open to the public for the first time at 5 p.m. but close at 7:30 p.m. for a memorial service for invited guests.

Shortly after 8 p.m., the names of the 1 ,046 who died or are missing in action will be read alphabetically as they have been Inscribed on the memorial. As names are read, the family concerned will come forward to be escorted to the memorial ring to place a rose by their family member's name. Families will be returned to their seats by an escort. If no family Is present, an escort will place the rose on the memorial. Upon completion of the Inscription reading, the ceremony will conclude with a choral selection by the Soldiers Chorus.

Larry Me-doff, a Howard County resident, Vietnam Veteran and one of the marchers In the 1987 "Last Patrol." a 200-mile walk through the state to raise money for the memorial, will read the poem "Peace." Col. Donald L. Turley, staff chaplain for the Maryland National Guard, will give the benediction. The ceremony will conclude with the playing of "Taps." The memorial will reopen at 9:45 p.m. for public visitation.

It will remain open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The memorial will be lighted at night The name stones will have Indirect lighting. Additional lighting will be provided by 16 light spires custom-made for the memorial. The walkways will also be illuminated. Star Mothers and Sara Frances Shay of the National League of Families will place wreaths on the memorial, and Capt.

Thomas E. Bratten will accept the memorial for the citizens of Maryland and all Maryland Vietnam veterans. Sitting on a hill overlooking the Patapsco River on a site, the memorial is a waist-high granite wall, on which is inscribed 1,046 names of those who lost their lives 38 of whom are still missing. Nine Howard County veterans are named on the wall. Towering over the memorial will be two flag poles from which the Maryland flag will be flown.

Under construction since Oct. 19, 1988. the memorial was designed by Paul Sprelregen, architectural consultant. The memorial ring is made up of 64 triangular granite name stones. Each stone is inscribed with 16 names.

Names Staff report Another step in the healing process of a nation takes place today with the dedication of the Maryland Vietnam Veterans Memorial at Middle Branch Park in Baltimore. Six years after receiving the go-ahead from the General Assembly, those on the Maryland Vietnam Veterans Memorial Commission will see their work to honor men and women in the state who lost their lives in Vietnam come to fruition with the official dedication of the memorial at 3:45 p.m. The dedication ceremony will feature music by the 229th Maryland National Guard Band, and will include comments from Gov. William Donald Schaefer. Baltimore Mayor Kurt L.

Schmoke and former Gov. Harry Hughes. Katherine Mannion of the Gold Aunt remembers private ii i of the 38 missing in action are designated by a triangle. Should those missing be recovered alive, the triangle will be made into a square, commission officials said. Federal Hill Park, overlooking Baltimore's Inner Harbor, was site selected Initially for the memorial, but the cost for the site proved prohibitive, mainly because of the need to stabilize the north slope of the park, commission officials said.

The next proposed site, Jonas Green Park Just outside of Annapolis on Route 450 along the Severn River, met with community opposition and was dropped. The Middle Branch Park site was approved by the commission on March 2, 1988. A parade will precede the dedication, starting at 1 p.m. at Reed-bird Avenue and continuing to Hanover and Waterview. More Memorial By Michael James Staff writer For members of a Clarksville family that have accepted war as part of their history, today's dedication of the Maryland Vietnam Veterans Memorial relates a message they've been waiting to hear for over 20 years.

The other messages the Adams family has heard since Stephen H. Adams was killed in 1968 have had a bitter sound. There was anti-war sentiment outcry against military service and a pardon for draft reslsters who chose not to go to Vietnam. Stephen Adams, who was killed at the age of 19 in fighting related to the Tet Offensive, grew up on a dairy farm in Clarksville. Many of his family members were career Marines and were proud the day that Stephen and his brother, E.

Alexander Adams, decided they would do Join up. Military service, whether In time of war or peace, has been a part of life for the Adams family and their relatives. It was a hardship for the family to see that much of American sentiment was against those who fought and died in Vietnam. "I was extremely proud of those boys, especially in those days when there were so many people running off to Canada and Sweden," said the Adams brothers' uncle, Walter R. Harris of Highland.

Mr. Harris, a 29-year Marine veteran who served In World War II, and the Korean and Vietnam wars, said It was particularly disheartening to see the "reprehensi- i ble attitude" that was shown to veterans who returned from Vietnam. "It was an even sadder day when President Carter said to all the draft evaders, 'Come on home, it will be all Mr. Harris said. "It was a hard thing to see, as a member of a family that lost someone." The memorial being dedicated is still a gesture of atonement, and 'stands as an example of a chang-.

for family rine Corps. He had been In Vietnam only five weeks when he was killed by a rifle bullet, and he had been wounded at least one time before that. Stephen Adams' brother, who went to Vietnam two years after his brother's death, is an Ellicott City lawyer now. Alexander Adams says he and his brother spoke about the war as an Individual responsibility and an obligation, but there were still many apprehensions. Both the Adams brothers served In the Marine Corps and knew that eventually they would see combat In Vietnam.

It made it even tougher to hear the comments from those who felt a bitterness for the servicemen going off to Vietnam. "The political climate back then created not only an anti-war attitude, but an anti-individuals-that-served attitude," said Alexander Adams, who was 22 when his brother died. "The attitude was that you were stupid for serving." But that was a poor attitude, Alexander Adams said. He and his brother didn't represent the political ideals of the war. Alexander Adams recalls the night he came back from Vietnam.

It was under cover of night, and there was no hero's welcome at the airport "It wasn't the way you'd picture coming back home," Alexander Adams said. But the memorial being dedicated today, even though it's 20 years later, "does lay to rest a lot of loose ends," Alexander Adams said. "Whether the war was right or wrong, it's not doing any good now to rehash all the old arguments. I think we're starting tq recognize that now." Stephen Adams, a 1 967 graduate of St. Paul's High School In Clarksville, had written several letters home In the short time he was in Vietnam.

In most of them, his family says, he expressed the hope" that the war would be over soon. eases pain STEPHEN H. ADAMS Killed during Tet Offensive "It was a war run by politicians. The I military men that were there were being shoved around." WALTER R. HARRIS Uncle to Stephen Adams ing viewpoint.

Mr. Harris said. Over the years, people have come "to realize it wasn't the individual soldiers who were to be blamed for the conflict. "It was a war they were not permitted to win," Mr. Harris said.

"It was a war run by politicians. The military men that were there were being shoved around for political reasons." Private Stephen Adams was a crack rifle shot since childhood, and It had always been his ambiT tlon to be a marksman in the Ma gooa Kia PVT. STEVEN R. SHERMAN Didn't want his mother to worry two sides He was evacuated by helicopter approximately 30 minutes after being wounded. The helicopter crew received several hits on their copter and a member of the crew was wounded, and one of the other Marines being evacuated was wounded a second time." Private Sherman was taken directly to the hospital at Da Nang before being flown to the U.S.

Naval Hospital In Bethesda. While in the hospital, several Green Bay Packers visited Steve and presented him with an autographed football. "Even though he grew up surrounded by the Orioles and the Baltimore Colts, he was a big fan of the Yankees and the Green Bay Packers," Ms. Sherman said. His brother.

Tommy, still has the autographed football, she said. Private Sherman also received a letter from the White House signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson, praising him for his Accompanying the letter "Please See' SHERMANPage 10 3 i'i reaiiy was a By Cheryl Harman Staff writer With laminated clippings, pictures, letters and other precious memorabilia scattered across her kitchen counter, Lucille Sherman pieced together the short life of her nephew Steve. Less than one year from the time he graduated from Glenelg High School, Steven R. Sherman lost his life as a result of gunshot wounds while on patrol in Vietnam.

"Everyone says their kids are good, but Steve really was a good kid," said Ms. Sherman, a Savage resident. "He was so young, he never got the chance to get In trouble." Steve enlisted in the Marines in May 1965, shortly before his 18th birthday, when recruiters came to Glenelg High School. Ms. Sherman said the Marines offered him a "deal" where he could sign up before graduation, but delay reporting time until summer was over.

Private Sherman left for Okinawa in January 1966, with Company, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Division. The day before his departure, he wrote a letter to his aunt explaining how he told his mother he was going to the Philippines so she wouldn't worry, but was actually leaving for Vietnam in the morning. He confided in his aunt, "I would like it very much if you would try to keep her from worrying as much as you can. I don't want you to worry, either, because everything will be all right" Private Sherman arrived In Vietnam on April 16. Less than three weeks later, he was wounded.

His company commander recounted the patrol mission in a local newspaper article: "He was on a squad reinforced-sized patrol when about 25 'VC took the under fire. Ma-r rinfcs reacted in fashion as trained, -but fhey were being fired "at' from.