By David Fleet
Editor
Brandon Twp.- On Saturday morning Abel Guajardo, 71, meticulously perused the 2,600 names etched on the memorial.
“I found David Terwilliger and Victor Ronald Hoyt,” said Guajardo, a township resident and Army veteran. “I remember those boys from boot camp—they were in the second platoon at Fort Knox, Kentucky.”
Guajardo, was just one of many who visited the Michigan Vietnam Veterans Traveling Memorial which arrived on June 24 at the Brandon Township Community Park, 1414 N. Hadley Road.
The Ortonville Lions Club, along with others, spearheaded the project to bring the memorial to the township.
In 2005 Staff Sgt Kurt Damrow, of the 127th Wing of the Michigan Air National Guard, created the memorial in memory of Navy GMG3 Oliver Damrow of Kinde, Mich. Damrow was killed in action during his second tour of duty in Vietnam.

The names of the 2,654 soldiers from Michigan on the traveling memorial are etched on five-eight foot panels spanning about 25 feet. Unique to the display are several notebooks that include pictures and other information about the soldiers.
There about 300 individuals on the memorial for which photos are still being sought.
Guajardo recognized Pvt. David William Terwilliger, who was a 19-year-old Dearborn resident who went to South Vietnam on March 27, 1966 and died as a result of hostile small gun fire on April 24, 1966.
“I contacted his sisters after the war,” he said. “They told me David had been killed in action.”
Next to Terwilliger was Sgt. Victor Ronald Hoyt, also a platoon mate of Guajardo. Hoyt, a 25-year-old-Pontiac resident, was sent to South Vietnam on May 6, 1966 and was killed in action Dec. 27, 1966.
“Both are next to each other in our platoon picture which I kept all these years,” he said. “They were nice guys.”
Guajardo left copies of his Army platoon picture in the photo albums to remember Hoyt and Terwilliger.
“There are about 10 from our platoon who are still alive,” said Guajardo, who served in Vietnam and continued in the Army until he retired in 2006.
The memorial was escorted from the Clarkston American Legion to the township by the Patriot Guard Riders, Iron Order M/C, Wild Pigs M/C and many riders who joined in supporting the veterans.
The memorial will be at Goodtimes in Goodrich on Aug. 5.