| ||||||||||
Dr. Ronald P. Rogers CHIROPRACTOR Support for your body's natural healing capabilities 270-384-5554 Click here for details 
 
Columbia Gas Dept. GAS LEAK or GAS SMELL Contact Numbers 24 hrs/ 365 days 270-384-2006 or 9-1-1 Call before you dig 
Visit ColumbiaMagazine's Directory of Churches Addresses, times, phone numbers and more for churches in Adair County Find Great Stuff in ColumbiaMagazine's Classified Ads Antiques, Help Wanted, Autos, Real Estate, Legal Notices, More... 
|
KY Vietnam Veterans Memorial to host Veterans Day events From Whitney Wurzel Frankfort, KY - - The Kentucky Vietnam Veterans Memorial (KVVM) in Frankfort recently completed two significant projects: adding the name of a Kentucky-born Vietnam veteran who was previously missing from the memorial, and replacing several concrete piers that support the memorial plaza. As 2025 marks the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War, KVVM invites the public to visit and take part in its upcoming Veterans Day events.
The Kentucky Vietnam Veterans Memorial is located at 365 Vernon Cooper Lane, Frankfort, KY, and is open seven days a week with no reservation required. To learn more, visit kyvietnammemorial.net. For Adair listings, click kyvietnammemorial.net/kentuckys-fallen-directory. The veteran whose name was missing from the memorial was Warrant Officer Conrad J. "Jack" Wheeler and he grew up in Breckinridge County, Kentucky, and graduated from Irvington High School in 1959. As a student, he was known by his middle name, Jack, or as "Jackie." On October 28, one day before the anniversary of his death in 1969, Wheeler's name was engraved on the memorial. Wheeler joined the U.S. Army in San Marcos, Texas, and deployed to Vietnam as a helicopter pilot with D Troop, 3rd Squadron, 5th Air Cavalry. Beginning his tour in Vietnam on June 4, 1969, Wheeler was just 28 years old when he was killed in action. "His cousins told us that Conrad's name was not on the memorial," said Jerry Cecil. "Over the years, we've discovered several Kentuckians who enlisted from other states and, as a result, didn't appear in the Kentucky database." "After researching his records, we learned that he had family in San Marcos and departed for Vietnam from Texas," Cecil continued. "Fortunately, his sacrifice was never forgotten -- his name appears on a Texas memorial." Each name on the Kentucky memorial is precisely positioned so the shadow of the sundial's pointer, or gnomon, touches each veteran's name on the anniversary of their death, creating a deeply personal annual tribute. Accordingly, Wheeler's name was engraved precisely along the sunline marking the date of his sacrifice. This addition was made possible by master engraver Andy Futrell and his apprentice, Justin Robinson, of Cave Hill Cemetery & Arboretum in Louisville, along with Dr. Bruce Swetnam of the University of Kentucky School of Architecture, whose expertise ensured Wheeler's name was placed with exact precision. KVVM also recently replaced eight of the over 800 concrete piers supporting the memorial plaza. These piers support 327 slabs, each four inches thick, with a combined weight exceeding 215 tons. This project was made possible through the work and expertise of Allen Kent, monument setter and rigger operator with A. Kent Construction & Crane Service; Brett Sofie, Project Manager at Kelsey Construction; and the team at Cave Hill Cemetery & Arboretum. Completed in the summer of 1988, the memorial was designed by the late Helm Roberts, a Lexington, Kentucky-based architect and veteran. The blue-gray granite plaza of the memorial contains the names of the 1,110 Kentuckians who died in the Vietnam War. It is one of the largest granite memorials in the nation. This story was posted on 2025-11-05 11:53:47
Printable: this page is now automatically formatted for printing.
Have comments or corrections for this story? Use our contact form and let us know.
More articles from topic Veterans and Veterans Day:
LWU annual Veterans Appreciation Luncheon is Nov 11 Next KY Virtual Job Fair is Oct 15 KY Virtual Job Fair on Sept 17 Community and Veterans Care Expo events in Sept Local organizations collaborate to help a veteran Virtual Job Fair for veterans on August 20 KDVA Homeless Veterans Program 5K Run/Walk Oct 11 Virtual Job Fair for veterans on July 16 VFW Service Officer at Columbia Post on Thursday Flag Day: 14 June 2025 View even more articles in topic Veterans and Veterans Day |
 
115 Jamestown St. Columbia, KY. 270-384-2496 
 
  
 
 Provided by the Adair Co Fiscal Court and the Adair Co. Emergency Mgt. Agency 
|
||||||||
|
| ||||||||||
|
Quick Links to Popular Features
Looking for a story or picture? Try our Photo Archive or our Stories Archive for all the information that's appeared on ColumbiaMagazine.com. | ||||||||||
|
Contact us: Columbia Magazine and columbiamagazine.com are published by Linda Waggener and Pen Waggener, PO Box 906, Columbia, KY 42728. Please use our contact page, or send questions about technical issues with this site to webmaster@columbiamagazine.com. All logos and trademarks used on this site are property of their respective owners. All comments remain the property and responsibility of their posters, all articles and photos remain the property of their creators, and all the rest is copyright 1995-Present by Columbia Magazine. Privacy policy: use of this site requires no sharing of information. Voluntarily shared information may be published and made available to the public on this site and/or stored electronically. Anonymous submissions will be subject to additional verification. Cookies are not required to use our site. However, if you have cookies enabled in your web browser, some of our advertisers may use cookies for interest-based advertising across multiple domains. For more information about third-party advertising, visit the NAI web privacy site.
| ||||||||||
