Local man helps in adding name to Wall
This Memorial Day, Jerry Giannopoulos of Deer Lake will be at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., to pay tribute as a fellow serviceman is officially added to the list of Vietnam dead. “It was something that was overlooked and should be done,’ Army veteran Giannopoulos said about the government’s decision to include the name of PFC William Joseph Scannell of Forest Park Ill., on the Wall, as it has come to be known.
In fact, Giannopoulos played a part in helping Scannell’s name be placed on the Wall. Two years ago, he readily agreed to help when Scannell’s high school friend Carol Wilson of Illinois asked. Wilson has wanted to see Scannell’s name on the Wall since 1994 after visiting a traveling Vietnam Memorial display and noticing that Scannell’s name was missing.
Giannopoulos came into contact with Wilson in May 2001 through an Internet site as he was doing a search for Scannell.
“I’m a locator for Delta Company, 3rd Battalion, 22nd Regiment,’ Giannopoulos explained. “I’m locating veterans from Vietnam (1967-71) and this guy was wounded and nobody knew he died. … Nobody could find him and he was dead for 30 years.’
Scannell died in 1970 in a Chicago veterans’ hospital of brain injuries caused Aug. 28, 1968, by an RPG, an anti-tank weapon. He had been on night watch outside a base camp in Tay Ninh Province when the RPG exploded outside his bunker.
“He lost part of his skull and both his eyes and they sent him home,’ said Giannopoulos.
The two men met when both were members of a 13-man platoon, which Giannopoulos noted was small because it had a high turnover rate.
“Normally 50 people are supposed to be there. It was a big turnover. They kept bringing in new people,’ he said. “They kept coming and going. We lost more people in ’68 than they had in 10 years prior – more casualties in ’68 than in the previous 10 years.’
Giannopoulos was one of the casualties. A member of the infantry, like Scannell, Giannopoulos was in Vietnam from November 1967 to Aug. 1, 1968 when he was wounded and sent to Okinawa for treatment.
Like his fellow soldiers, Giannopoulos said he was “young and dumb.’
He had been married since September 1965 to his wife, Myra. The couple has two children: Melissa, of Deer Lake, who is married to Donald Glissan. They have a son, Donny, 10. Jerry, of Farmington, is married to Patti. They have a son, Nathan, 4, and a daughter, Cora, 1. Giannopoulos owns two businesses: Poulos Co. Inc. and Poulos Painting Co.
Giannopoulos became a locator for Delta Company after attending a 1998 reunion in South Bend, Ind.
“I’ve probably found 450 people from the company,’ he said. “…Every time you go to a reunion, somebody asks you to find somebody they knew.’
Scannell was one of the people Giannopoulos tried to find.
“He was a nice kid – polite and shy,’ Giannopoulos remembered Scannell. “There’s some people who are rowdy and carry on. That wasn’t his thing.’
His search put Giannopoulos in touch with Wilson, who reported that Scannell had died.
Wilson, a part-time waitress and bartender in Forest Park, told the Chicago Tribune, that Scannell joined the Army in 1967, telling her, “I’m going to go save my country, but I don’t think I’ll be back.’
Wilson never saw Scannell again, but months later, he sent her a photograph of himself in his Army uniform.
She still carries the photo in her wallet.
“I just remember this sweet, shy little boy. The least he deserved was a name on a wall,’ Wilson said in the Tribune article.
Scannell was just 22 years old when he died.
After communicating with Wilson, Giannopoulos had another question: “What caused his death? I didn’t know. He could have been killed in an automobile accident.’
Giannopoulos worked for months doing research on military records to discover what happened to Scannell. That included finding the morning reports from the National Archives in St. Louis, Mo, which contain the roll call and information such as who was sick and who was new. He also found after-action reports from College Park, Md.
Although Scannell died as a result of injuries suffered in Vietnam, he wasn’t placed on the Wall because his death took place two years later.
“If you died there or in transit, your name was on the Wall,’ explained Giannopoulos.
He noted that once a serviceman or servicewoman’s name was dropped from the company roster, nobody kept track.
“There’s probably a whole lot more,’ Giannopoulos said.
Giannopoulos sent the material he collected to U.S. Rep. William Lipinski (D-Ill.) who assigned an aide to help with the request that Scannell’s name be added to the Wall.
For Vietnam veterans, the Wall is a special place.
According to the Web site for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, a non-profit organization that built the memorial and preserves its legacy, “The Memorial was originally designed to pay long overdue honor to the nearly three million men and women who served with the U.S. armed forces in the Vietnam War.
“Since the dedication in November 1982, The Wall has had a profound impact on our country and has developed into an international symbol of healing. It has welcomed veterans home when no one else would. Offered families and friends the opportunity to mourn loved ones. And forever reminds current and future generations about the human toll of war.
“The Wall remains the most visited memorial in the nation’s capital with more than four million visitors annually. In its two decades, the Memorial is responsible for initiating countless reunions, healing our country from the divisive wounds of the Vietnam War and educating young people about the effects of the war on society.’
The federal government made the decision to include Scannell’s name on the Wall last fall. A few days ago, workers engraved Scannell’s name on the black granite panels along with five others: Air Force SSgt. Donald Scott Carson of San Francisco, Army MSgt. Frank Luther Huddleston of Clarksville, Tenn., Army Spc. Kevin John Joyce of Framingham, Mass., Army SFC Dwaine Usry McGriff of Culiman, Ala., and Army SP4 James Mark Rogers of Waynesville, N.C.
Scannell’s Wall location is 44 West, Line 20.
On Memorial Day, the names of Scannell and the other five will be officially added to the Wall during a 1 p.m. observance co-sponsored by the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund and the National Park Service.
The observance will bring the total number of killed or missing in action on the Wall to 58,235. Besides these six names being added, another 26 names are having their status changed from missing in action to killed in action.
Why was it important to Giannopoulos to see Scannell’s name added to the Wall?
“It should be important to everyone,’ Giannopoulos said, “Is it important to you? It should be done. You can’t overlook something like that. If you knew somebody died, you can’t say I’ve got other things to do. Somebody’s got to stop and care.’
Besides Giannopoulos, the veterans paying tribute to Scannell will include one or two men from each of the four platoons in Delta Company.
They are residents of California, Texas and Arkansas. Among them is Paul Wakefield of California, whose life was saved by Scannell when Scannell pulled a wounded Wakefield out of enemy fire when his platoon was ambushed one night.
In addition, Wilson and friends from Chicago will appear at the observance.
But Scannell’s family will be missing. Scannell’s father, Lawrence, died in 1975 and is buried beside him. No one has been able to find Scannell’s mother, Mary, and sister, Catherine, who are reported to have moved to Arizona. But efforts to locate them continue.
Meanwhile, Giannopoulos prepares for the ceremony on Monday, the outcome of perseverance by people who continue to care for a soldier who touched their lives more than three decades ago.
If asked to help another soldier claim his place on the Wall, would Giannopoulos do it again?
He doesn’t hesitate to answer: “Without a doubt. Wouldn’t you?’