Air force Major James C. Wise who was killed while flying a combat mission in Vietnam on Dec.23, 1965, was honored Thursday with the dedication of a Vietnam War memorial inside Marietta's East Cobb Park. "This is exactly the right thing to do." said Col. George E."Bud" Day, a Medal of Honor winner and president of the Vietnam Veterans Legacy Foundation. “We are in a better climate about our veterans than we were when a lot of the public personally held it against the military for having served." They came home to jeers instead of cheers, which was totally the wrong thing.
And for those who didn't come home, Day said;” This recognizes one serviceman's contribution on behalf of all of us. "This was a good man who stepped up to the plate when it was his time and did his duty and lost his life doing it. That's the price of freedom.
Day came close to paying the ultimate price for his country. For nearly six years he was a POW in the infamous Hanoi Hilton, where Sen. John McCain helped heal Day's seriously wounded arm.
Day said McCain's medical skills were "pretty good" all things considered. Rolling up the sleeve on his right arm, he said;” It's about two inches shorter. As you can see, it's got this little bulb, but it's better than having the bone sticking out, you know. He just put his foot in my right arm pit and gave it a jerk. then wrapped it up with a bandage and a couple of little bamboo sticks and it healed.
As several hundred people watched an A-10 Warthog made a ceremonial fly over. The aircraft seldom seen in these parts was the successor to A-1 Skyraider flown by Major James C. Wise Jr. on his last combat mission.
Major Wise's wife, Lucille Wise Wilcox and her three daughters who were 7, 8, and 10 at the time their father died attended the ceremony. The youngest daughter, Jamie Wise Allen, said her emotions were "right on the edge. She said, “now we have a place we can come to spend some time.
