Special Projects

The calm South China Sea rested in front of two men as they sat on a white sandy beach in Vietnam. Martin Short and William J. Hondel had stopped to take a break and enjoy the sun for a few moments before returning to their work. Although they were in a war, and away from […]

Feb. 27, 1969 was just another normal day at Naval Support Activity Da Nang, South Vietnam. The LCU-1500 was unloading ammunition when a rocket collided with the side of the ship and destroyed it. On that ship was Bruno W. Demata. At the age of 18, Bruno DeMata decided to enlist in the United States Navy. […]

“I’m going to have to get out of here, because it’s killing me.” That’s it. That’s what the letter said that Robert E. Uthemann sent to his only brother, Jurgen Uthemann. Jurgen did not know what to think of it other than his brother needed to get out Korea, where he was stationed during the […]

Terry Lynn Martin, a Milwaukee native, was only 18-years-old when he was deployed to Vietnam in December 1968. With his whole life in front of him, he unfortunately only lasted about six weeks before falling in battle on Jan. 20, 1969 in Tay Ninh, Vietnam. However, unlike so many, his legacy has lived on for […]

“What a waste.” Those were the words spoken again and again by Earl Paulich in reference to the loss of his brother, Vietnam War veteran Patrick James Paulich, who died in combat on Nov. 30, 1970 at 20-years-old. Only their mother called him Patrick, though. To everyone else he knew he was Pat. Pat was […]

James R. Neubauer grew up in Portage, Wis., a small town towards the center of Wisconsin. At a young 15-years-old, he joined the military and would spend the next 19 years as a dedicated American soldier. His only remaining loved ones are his niece and nephew Cheryl Barton and Dennis Simonson. “My uncle James was […]

For years, Larry Knapp searched for any link to the friend he lost years ago on a dark night in Vietnam, 1966. With the thought of his friend Nathaniel Merriweather close to his heart, Knapp never stopped searching. Where was Merriweather buried? He wondered of the young man he only knew had come from Milwaukee (but […]

On Facebook, Gerald Schultz’s son, Daniel, has posted a picture of a visit he made to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall. He stands in front of his father’s name, and you can see the reflection of the son in the Wall. “Here at the Vietnam Wall. Found my dad’s name,” wrote Schultz, 47. “I am so […]

James W. Lenz is remembered by his sister Carol Rollins as a smart and helpful child, and later a popular and good looking young man, but he always had a hard time staying out of trouble. In the year 1969 a young Lenz, of Milwaukee, faced a judge for a stealing a car and going […]

The journalism students were given one task: To find each of the 1,244 missing photographs of Vietnam veterans from Wisconsin who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country 40 years ago. But in some cases, they found the photos but also families whose shattering losses remained so emotionally vivid they couldn’t put them into public words. That […]

Many days, you can find Terry Kramer, a Vietnam-era veteran who lives in Baraboo, sitting in the Milwaukee Public Library and digging though records to find faces to put with names on a very important list. Kramer, who makes the 116-mile drive each way to Milwaukee for his research, has found many of the fallen […]

Andrew Johnson stood quietly in the front of a University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee classroom with a poster that read, “Help Find the last 18,” as students filed in for their next class. Johnson, a small newspaper publisher, has taken on an incredible task—finding a photo for every person who was killed in the Vietnam War from […]