A veterans memorial park in Dayton’s Wright-Dunbar neighborhood has a new name: Honor Park. The park is also receiving several upgrades and new features, including a memorial honoring 41 Medal of Honor recipients from the Miami Valley.
Marine Corps veteran and Veterans’ Voices host Zack Sliver spoke with two women helping bring the project to life.
Cindy LaPointe Dafler is a Dayton-area veterans advocate and Gold Star wife. Her late husband, Army Specialist Joseph Guy LaPointe Jr., received the Medal of Honor for his bravery during the Vietnam War.
Karla Garrett Harshaw serves on the board of Wright-Dunbar Inc. and is coordinating the project.
This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Karla Garrett Harshaw: Wright-Dunbar Inc. is the nonprofit that has spearheaded the redevelopment of the Wright-Dunbar district. But in the process of recognizing individuals to be listed on the Dayton Region Walk of Fame, there had been a couple of instances where the public had nominated Medal of Honor recipients who were not selected. And so, there was a lot of debate about what to do about that.
"When I'm gone and my grandchildren are gone, what will be left? The monument."
In one meeting, we decided we would build a Medal of Honor memorial. It's important because these people have put their lives at risk not only to protect our nation and keep us safe, but also to protect our democracy.
While we say we will never forget them, often we do overlook the value of those veterans. And this project is not to promote war by any means, but to observe and pay tribute to the people who have fought for us. And unfortunately, with Medal of Honor recipients, many of them lose their lives in the process.
Zack Sliver: Can you tell us about your husband and what he did to earn the Medal of Honor?
Cindy LaPointe Dafler: Well, it was on Hill 376 in June 1969. He actually was supposed to leave for R&R and not go on this mission. However, the replacement medic — he was a medic — didn't show up. So Guy got in a helicopter and just went.
When he heard the first one who was shot holler for the medic, he started running through fire to get to him. And the second one who was trying to get to him was also shot. So he was trying to save two soldiers with his body until a grenade killed all three.
"All of us have some relative, friend or associate who's a veteran. And maybe we don't stop to think about that and recognize their experiences, but they are living among us and deserve a lot of recognition for what they've done."
Sliver: Thank you for telling me that. Your husband was a brave man.
LaPointe Dafler: Yes, he was. It means quite a bit to know that his name is on this monument. It means even more to know there are 40 others on the monument. That's the thing that was thrilling to me. All of them are there, and their stories will be told.
When I'm gone and my grandchildren are gone, what will be left? The monument.
Sliver: So you still need about $300,000 to finish the project?
Harshaw: Ah, $200,000 now. We're making progress.
Sliver: That's a lot of progress. How can the community help?
Harshaw: They could go to the Medal of Honor at the Wright-Dunbar site. Or, we're fortunate that the Dayton Foundation adopted us as a component fund. So it's preferred that they send donations to the Dayton Foundation for the Medal of Honor Memorial and Honor Park Fund.
None of us have been paid to do this. It's been people who were committed, devoted and gave a lot of time to make this happen.
Sliver: I'm very excited for it. I've been driving by and just seeing the constant progress. As a veteran, it's phenomenal to know that my friends who didn't come back from overseas and people like that have people like you guys who will honor them and make sure nobody forgets their names.
Harshaw: All of us have some relative, friend or associate who's a veteran. And maybe we don't stop to think about that and recognize their experiences, but they are living among us and deserve a lot of recognition for what they've done.
Veterans' Voices is presented by Wright-Patt Credit Union. Additional support comes from the Dayton Ombudsman Veterans Transition Team and Montgomery County Veterans Service Commission. Veterans' Voices is produced at the Eichelberger Center for Community Voices.
