Names added to Vietnam Memorial in Penn's Landing
PENNS LANDING (WPVI) -- The names of two Philadelphia soldiers were added to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Penn's Landing.
A ceremony was held on Memorial Day at Spruce Street and Columbus Blvd.
The soldiers to be honored were non-commissioned officers who died of illness during the war.
The names of Master Sgt. Francis G. Corcoran, a Port Richmond native, and Master Sgt. George L. Wilson, a 1948 graduate of Frankford High School, were approved in 2013 by the Department of Defense for inclusion at the national Vietnam Veterans Memorial and were added to the Washington D.C. "Wall" last May.
Their names will bring to 648 Philadelphians honored at the memorial.
"This is the first addition to the wall in 13 years," said Terry A. Williamson, PVVM Fund president in a statement. "It is another reminder of the toll the war took on not just members of the Armed services, but on their families as well."
Corcoran died of hepatitis Dec. 9, 1967, in Walter Reed Hospital in DC after being transferred from Vietnam. He started his tour in Vietnam on Nov. 25, 1966, and served with the 1st Batallion, 35th Infantry, 4th Infantry Division. The 39-year-old soldier was a Green Beret and had served a tour of duty in in Korea.
Wilson, 43, died of pancreatitis and related illnesses on Nov. 8, 1967, in Japan where he was medevaced. He started his tour in Vietnam on July 30, 1967, as an imagery analyst with the 525th Military Intelligence Group. He also had previously served a tour of duty in Korea.
