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Army works toward fix of Vietnam wall error Saturday, Mar 15, 2008 By Aaron Sadler Stephens Washington Bureau WASHINGTON - Army records for a Hindsville man killed in action in Vietnam now reflect the correct spelling of his name, a step toward correcting an error etched into the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. An Army spokeswoman said the nonprofit organization that maintains the memorial in Washington will be officially notified next week of the proper spelling of Sgt. Cary Siler. Siler's first name is misspelled as Gary on the granite wall, a mistake likely the result of an Army clerical error. Other documents, like citations for valor, were also misspelled. New citations were prepared after military officials learned of the error late last year. The Arkansas Army National Guard is expected to deliver the mistake-free documents to Siler's parents soon. "It should never have taken this long to get taken care of," said Shari Lawrence of the Army Human Resources Command. Lonnie Siler, Cary Siler's brother, said in November that the family learned of the mistake more than a decade ago when a replica of the memorial made a stop in Arkansas. Stymied by government red tape previously, the family renewed its effort to get the name corrected late last year. A spokesman for the private group that operates the memorial and pays for alterations makes changes once a year, usually in May. The deadline for a fix to Siler's name has passed this year, said Scott Warner, spokesman for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund. Four names will be added to the wall by Memorial Day, Warner said. All four recognize veterans who have died recently as a direct result of combat injuries in Vietnam. More than 58,000 names are listed on the wall. No more than 60 misspellings have been identified. The architect of record for the memorial has said Sgt. Siler's name will probably be inscribed on another part of the wall and mentions of the incorrect spelling will be deleted from the directory of names. Cary Siler died April 11, 1967, in the Binh Duong province of South Vietnam. He was manning a machine gun atop a tank when he was shot and killed by enemy fire. He earned a Purple Heart and Silver Star. Lonnie Siler said his parents, Hubert and JoVetta Siler of Hindsville, were surprised to learn about the newly corrected citations for service. "When I told (my mother) about it, it brought tears to her eyes," Lonnie Siler said. "She didn't expect that at all." A spokesman for the Arkansas National Guard said the organization will talk to the Silers to schedule an official ceremony to present the new certificates. |
