Look Back: Remembering their sacrifice

May 26—On Feb. 21, 1988, the Vietnam Memorial was dedicated on the south lawn of the Luzerne County Courthouse during a ceremony attended by nearly 2,000 people.

Honored were 82 men from Luzerne County who were killed-in-action and more than 11,000 other county residents who fought during the Vietnam War.

We remember their sacrifice today with parades, church services and prayer, memorial services and cookouts.

Born in Wilkes-Barre before his family moved to Prospect Street in Pittston, Edmund Skunda was 19-years-old when he enlisted in the U.S. Army on July 24, 1967.

Five days after arriving in Vietnam, Private First Class Skunda was on patrol with his platoon, Company B, First Battalion of the 14th Infantry, when he was killed by a sniper on Jan. 24, 1968.

Despite his brief war experience, Skunda was awarded the Bronze Star, the Combat Infantryman's Badge, the Vietnamese Service Medal and the U.S. Army Good Conduct Medal.

U.S. Army Sergeant Glenn Fey of Ashley enlisted when he was 18-years-old soon after he graduated from Ashley-Sugar Notch High School in 1966.

Fey was a crew chief on a UH-1B gunship when it was hit by a rocket near Bong Son in the Binh Dinh province on May 5, 1968. Fey was initially listed as missing-in-action but was later included as a casualty in November 1968. He was 20-years-old when killed.

U.S. Army Sergeant Michael Preslipski Jr. had dreams of becoming an engineer when he graduated from Lake Lehman High School in 1966. The 21-year-old was clearing land with the 39th Engineer Battalion, 59th Engineer Company when he stepped on a land mine in the Thua Thien province on Aug. 31, 1969.

Preslipski was awarded the Purple Heart, National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Army Presidential Unit Citation, Vietnam Gallantry Cross and the U.S. Army Good Conduct Medal.

Richard Rynkiewicz of Luzerne Borough was 22-years-old when he was drafted into the U.S. Army in March 1964. Private First Class Rynkiewicz, assigned to Company B, Fifth Battalion, First Brigade, was in Vietnam for three months before he as killed-in-action on Jan. 13, 1966.

Rynkiewicz was decorated with the Vietnam Service Medal, Combat Infantry Badge, the U.S. Army Good Conduct Medal, Purple Heart and Marksman's Badge.

Robert Kenneth Brice grew up in Plains Township and was a Boy Scout all his life earning the Eagle Scout badge. He enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps when he was 19-years-old and held the rank of corporal when sent to Vietnam in 1967.

Brice was killed in action while serving with the Third Tank Battalion, Third Marine Division, near Quang Tri on May 19, 1967. Brice was 21-years-old when he was killed.

Brice was decorated with the National Defense Service Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal and the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal.

Thomas Zaremba was an all-star athlete in football and basketball at Nanticoke High School where he graduated in 1967. A year later, Zaremba entered the U.S. Army in 1968 and sent to Vietnam where he was wounded in April 1970. After recovering from his wounds, Zaremba was sent back to Vietnam for a second tour of duty in August 1970, and killed in a vehicle accident in the Binh Dinh province on Sept. 24, 1970. He was 21-years-old.

Zaremba was a specialist five and was decorated with the Purple Heart, the Bronze Star, the U.S. Army Good Conduct Medal and the Vietnam Service Medal.

Richard Evancho graduated from Freeland High School in 1966 with aspirations of becoming a Pennsylvania State Police trooper. While still in high school, Evancho enlisted in the U.S. Marine corps and attained the rank of Lance Corporal when he served with the Marine Aircraft Group 36 in Vietnam.

A week before his 20th birthday, Evancho was sent to Vietnam and two weeks after arriving, he was injured by enemy fire on March 26, 1968.

As Evancho was being evacuated in a UH34D Seahorse helicopter to Da Nang, South Vietnam, the aircraft crashed in the South China Sea during adverse weather conditions.

The pilot and co-pilot survived but the bodies of Evancho and four other injured Marines on-board were never recovered.