Fallen heroes honored

Three graduates of Charles Drew High School, who were killed in action during the Vietnam War, are memorialized with a monument unveiled Saturday.
The monument, in front of Central Middle School, which was the Charles Drew school, honors Sgt. Charles Williams, Pfc. Jimmy Williams and Lance Cpl. Alvin Jimmy Monday.
Jake Flukers, who organized the event and funded the monument, said, “They really are heroes.”
Flukers, of Shreveport, is a Charles Drew graduate and served a year in Vietnam during his Army service from 1966 to 1968.
The unveiling ceremony drew family members of the fallen servicemen as well as veterans and other community members, many with a tie to the school.
Germaine Simpson, a Eunice alderwoman, said she attended the school when it was Central Middle.
“I never knew that there were actually individuals who attended the school that served in the Vietnam War. So, this is truly an honor. It is history our children need to know about this. This truly says a lot about what these young men stood for.
“We know today we are always in the news for the negative things, but this is an honor. This is history here. Our children should know about this and that they fought for freedom, which many of us take for granted today.”
The monument by Ardoin’s Marble Works, tells its own story about the impact of the Vietnam War.
Charles Williams, a 1962 graduate, was killed in February 1966. Jimmy Williams, a 1967 graduate, was killed in August 1968, followed by Monday, a 1962 graduate, who was killed in September 1968.
Claudia Jordan said her brother, Jimmy, was 18 years old when he was killed.
“They came and told my grandmother. It was devastating because we had just been together before he left,” she said.
“Matter of fact when we were funeralizing Jimmy Williams, Monday was killed that same day,” she said.
John Thibodeaux, who served from 1970 to 1971 in the Army in Vietnam, remembers all three of the fallen men.
Recalling Vietnam, he said, “I tell you over there is totally different. It is like you were in another world.”
He added, “At the time it was a real frightening experience being over there. By the grace of God with the prayers received from home I came back home safely. No injuries, but I am diagnosed with PTSD.”
Flukers said, “They really deserve to have this done in their honor.”
Pat Mason-Guillory, of Opelousas, a parish educator who is active in honoring veterans, said, “This is awesome. This is what we need to do to commemorate those killed in action especially in their hometown. I think it something so honorable ... especially from a classmate.”
Noting the location in front of the school, she said, “I think it is going to make our young people aware of who sacrificed their lives for our freedom.”
Mason-Guillory said, “The kids coming up, they need to know. There is not enough patriotism anymore. Having it here at the school I think is really awesome.”
Mason-Guillory led the effort to build a memorial to parish veterans south of Opelousas.
Albert Hayes Jr., a St. Landry Parish School Board member from Eunice, said, “This is a history lesson every day for the kids that come here.”
Hayes was a junior when Jimmy Williams and Monday were killed.
“It was a scary situation,” he said recalling he and others faced the draft into military service.
“It was a real chance that many of our students would be headed to the service and many did go to Vietnam,” he said.
Also honored Saturday were two other servicemen from Eunice killed in the Vietnam War: Sgt. Donald Sistrunk and Lance Cpl. James Donald Feucht.
Sistrunk served in the Army and Feucht was in the Marines.
Feucht’s brother is Robert, who owns Ardoin’s Marble Works.
The unveiling ceremony was followed by a program at the Southeast Neighborhood Center.
The Vietnam War claimed the lives of 58,220 U.S. service members. The war lasted from 1955 to 1975 with the main U.S. presence occurring from 1965 to 1973.