JSU Board of Trustees honors students killed in Vietnam, including two from Gadsden
The Jacksonville State University Board of Trustees on Tuesday passed a resolution honoring six students who graduated from or attended the school and later were killed in the Vietnam War, according to a press release from the school.
Six offices will be named in memory of the soldiers in the home of the school's Reserve Officers Training Corps program, Rowe Hall.
Two of those honored were from Gadsden: 1st Lt. Grady E. McBride III and Capt. Jerry Wayne McNabb.
The others are Lt. Charles William Davis of Tallassee, Capt. Donald Franklin McMillan of Hopkinsville, Kentucky, Capt. Richard Charles Miller of Jacksonville and Capt. Edward Davis Pierce of Homewood.
Trustee Clarence William Daugette III of Gadsden, a JSU alum who graduated in 1974, donated the gift to allow for the soldiers to be honored, the release said.
Each of the six honorees was involved with the ROTC program while at JSU and went on to serve in the U.S. Army.
“It has been 50 years since the Vietnam War, which affected all of our lives,” Daugette said in the release. “This was something that was very close to my heart, and I am proud we are able to honor the sacrifices of these soldiers who gave their lives for their country.”
McBride was a 1968 graduate of JSU. A member of a family with a history of military service, he had to fight to for a chance to serve himself.
According to a 2017 Times profile in conjunction with the visit to Gadsden of the Moving Wall replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, a heart murmur kept him from receiving an appointment to the U.S. Military Academy, and a damaged eardrum kept him from receiving an ROTC commission.
However, he finally received a commission and volunteered for duty in Vietnam, where he served as a petroleum products supply officer. He was killed June 5, 1970, at age 24, during an attack on a fuel farm in the Binh Dinh province in South Vietnam. His funeral at Crestwood Cemetery was described by his brother in the 2017 profile as the largest ever held there.
A noted high school athlete, McNabb graduated from JSU in 1959 and received an ROTC commission, according to another 2017 Times profile in conjunction with the Moving Wall visit.
He served at Fort Rucker in Alabama and Fort Benning in Georgia and in Germany before being deployed to Vietnam as the leader of a rotary wing aviation unit.
He was reported missing in action on June 27, 1966, and his family later was notified that he had died in a helicopter crash. He was 29.
Davis was a member of Jacksonville State's football team while he was on campus and planned to return to school to get his degree after the war, the release stated.
He was a tank unit commander and died Oct. 6, 1967, in the Dinh Tuon province of South Vietnam at age 24. Among his commendations were the Purple Heart and Bronze Star.
McMillan was a 1961 graduate of JSU. He was killed April 2, 1966, at age 27, also in an unknown province. His commendations included the Purple Heart.
Miller graduated from JSU in 1965. He served as an infantry unit commander, also dying at age 27 on Sept. 3, 1969, in the Quang Nam province. His commendations included the Silver Star and Bronze Star.
Pierce graduated from JSU in 1962. He was killed March 13, 1966, in the Long Khanh province, also at age 27, while serving as a tactical intelligence staff officer.
In addition to those six, Daugette is sponsoring the naming of the office suite in Rowe Hall in honor of his father, Col. Clarence William Daugette Jr., who served in the U.S. Army for 40 years.
The elder Daugette was a decorated veteran of World War II who earned a Purple Heart and Bronze Star. Awards in his name are given to outstanding students at Jacksonville State and the U.S. Military Academy.
This article originally appeared on The Gadsden Times: Students who died in Vietnam War posthumously honored by JSU
