April 16, 1998
ADVISORY: VIETNAM MEMORIAL REDEDICATION
- 9 a.m. Saturday, April 25, during University of Kansas Alumni Weekend, at the Vietnam Memorial, near the intersection of West Campus Road and Memorial Drive. - Speakers include KU Chancellor Robert Hemenway and retired U.S. Air Force Gen. Charles G. Boyd. Boyd, one of only 10 four-star generals in the country, received the university's highest honor, the Distinguished Service Citation, at the 1997 KU commencement. General
Only Green survived the conflict in the jungles of Vietnam. Within a few months in 1968, Martin's plane was shot down and Willson was killed while leading an infantry operation.
So in 1994 when Green returned to campus for a Kappa Sigma fraternity reunion, he made a point to visit the KU Vietnam Memorial and look for the names of his two fallen comrades among the 55 KU alumni listed on the wall.
He found Martin's name, listed as missing in action, though he knew his remains had been identified a few years earlier.
He then went to the last panel to find Willson's name etched in the Kansas limestone.
"I walked around and looked, and it jumped out at me," said Green, a retired Army colonel. "It's not there."
Now, thanks to Green's persistence, Willson's name is finally there.
The university will rededicate the 12-year-old memorial April 25 to honor the addition of Willson's name and to recognize that Martin is no longer missing in action.
"It's nice to get this done," Green said, crediting Jeffery Weinberg, assistant to the chancellor, for taking action to have the names added to the memorial. "Willson grew up in Kansas. He was KU through and through."
Apparently Willson was omitted when the KU memorial wall was built in 1986 because military records listed Texas as his home state, Green said.
U.S. Army Capt. Loyd Meredith Willson, married and the father of a daughter, was 27 when he died Feb. 22, 1968, in Quan Thu Duc Province of Vietnam. He was commanding an infantry company in a search-and-destroy operation when the unit encountered heavy sniper fire.
In awarding a posthumous Silver Star, the Army reported that "as the battle intensified, Captain Willson disregarded his personal safety and refused to seek cover so he could better control his men.
"His dauntless courage, determined efforts, and exemplary leadership undoubtedly saved many friendly lives and contributed significantly to the ultimate rout of a large Viet Cong force."
Willson had entered KU from Iola High School. He graduated in 1962 with a bachelor's degree in sociology and was a distinguished military graduate with the Army ROTC. The nephew of "The Music Man" playwright and composer of the same name, Willson also was an accomplished pianist, Green said.
Martin, a Wakefield native, was co-pilot of a F101F Thunderchief over Vietnam July 15, 1968, when the aircraft was shot down.
The pilot, Maj. Gobel James, ejected and was captured. He was among 591 prisoners of war who were released from Hanoi prison camps five years later. Martin's family had hoped he would be among those prisoners, but he did not come home. Years later, in 1989, Martin's remains were identified and returned to his family for burial.
After graduating from KU in 1963, Green served in Vietnam and completed 29 years of active duty. Upon retirement, Green, who also is a lawyer, was appointed Department of Defense Special Counsel for POW-MIA Affairs. In that post that he had access to POW-MIA records and learned about Martin's remains being found.
Green later served as the primary legal counsel to Gen. Colin Powell while Powell was chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Green is now director of continuing legal education at the University of Missouri-Kansas City's School of Law.
The KU Vietnam Memorial was erected with $40,000 in donations from campus living groups, local business and veterans organizations, and families and friends of the honored veterans, including a $10,000 gift from the KU Student Senate and a major contribution, which completed the fundraising drive, from K.K. and Margaret Amini, KU graduates now living in San Antonio.
Story by Todd Cohen, (785) 864-8858