Their service, the anger at the war, the reaction to it back here in the States, is all still so real for many of us.�. Keep up with everything we do — We'll deliver our newsletter to your inbox each week. He can still see that military car pulling into his family�s driveway to deliver the news. It was like that for Lucas, too, but she appreciates that others speak fondly of the six sons Beallsville lost in Vietnam. �She was holding one of the babies when she dropped to her knees and just started screaming Duane�s name,� Armann said. Original content available for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license, except where noted. The unpopular war took six of its sons between 1966 and 1971. Buy United States of America flags at Flagstore.com! Betty Lucas and her family have said little over the years about the death of her son Bobby. 1) Become a member. The community is most famous for having the largest number of people per capita killed in the Vietnam War. Her fears became reality in August 1966 when military officers arrived at her home to tell her she had lost her oldest child. Buy Ohio State flags at Flagstore.com! Everyone in this town tucked between coal mines and rugged hills in southeastern Ohio already carried the emotional wounds of Vietnam. Is this marker missing? If so, The towering Beallsville Veterans Memorial at the cemetery entrance commands attention, drawing visitors to look up toward the vast gray sky above. The family was told he was being flown to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., and they prayed day and night. The village gained national attention during the Vietnam War by having lost six of its 475 citizens to the war, the worst per-capita loss of life experienced by any place in the country. © Gannett Co., Inc. 2020. �I went to the funerals when the others died, too, and it just was so hard on all those people.�. hashtag #HM1I2S in tweets, and any It�s the hardest thing I�ve ever dealt with in my life.�. When one of us hurt, we all hurt back in those days.�. The plight of the community drew wire service coverage and was the subject of a lengthy illustrated spread in the glossy left-wing magazine Ramparts. If you have a picture, please share it with us. �All this time has passed, but they will never be forgotten. Thursday is the 40th anniversary of the fall of Saigon and the end of the Vietnam War, but Beallsville sees no end to the war's haunting legacy. Do you have additional information that you would like to share with us? The Columbus Dispatch ~ 62 E. Broad St. Columbus OH 43215 ~ Do Not Sell My Personal Information ~ Cookie Policy ~ Do Not Sell My Personal Information ~ Privacy Policy ~ Terms Of Service ~ Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. What historical period does the marker represent? Latitude: 39.8485300, Longitude: -81.0449120. Become Digital access or digital and print delivery. �It�s never left me. There have been endless services at the cemetery and moments of silence at high-school football games. It�s still there. It's simple to do. But it�s the deaths and memory of Schnegg, 20; Jack Pittman, 20; Duane Greenlee, 19 (the only one not buried in the Beallsville Cemetery); Richard Rucker, 20; Robert Lucas, 20; and Phillip Brandon, 19, that has brought repeated national attention to a village that hasn�t always wanted it. The dead rest in a cemetery overlooking their old high school and the football field where some of them once played. 3) Upload the picture. Thursday is the 40th anniversary of the fall of Saigon and the end of the Vietnam War, but Beallsville sees no end to the war's haunting legacy. This marker can also be identified by its HM code. From the time Duane Greenlee was old enough to hear stories about heroic Marines, he wanted to be one. Larry Pittman, who had played games with his cousin Jack until he left for the war, said the village�s older generations have done everything in their power to keep the memory of the lost soldiers alive.