VIEW ALL PHOTOS (8)
HONORED ON PANEL 33E, LINE 62 OF THE WALL
PETER ALLEN ZANCA
WALL NAME
PETER A ZANCA
PANEL / LINE
33E/62
DATE OF BIRTH
CASUALTY PROVINCE
DATE OF CASUALTY
HOME OF RECORD
COUNTY OF RECORD
STATE
BRANCH OF SERVICE
RANK
REMEMBRANCES
LEFT FOR PETER ALLEN ZANCA
POSTED ON 6.27.2012
If I should die...remembrances for 1LT Peter Allen ZANCA, USA...San Antopne's bravest of heroes!!!!!
If I should die, and leave you here awhile, be not like others, sore undone, who keep long vigils by the silent dust, andn weep...for MY sake, turn again to life, and smile...Nerving thy heart, and trembling hand to do something to comfort other hearts than thine...Complete these dear, unfinished tasks of mine...and I, perchance, may therein comfort you.
POSTED ON 12.11.2010
POSTED BY: Robert Sage
We Remember
POSTED ON 11.9.2010
POSTED BY: David Zanca
Looking Up to a Big Brother
On Panel 33 East, Line 062 rests the name of my brother, Peter Allen Zanca. He was killed in Vietnam on January 6, 1968 at age 25. People come to touch and etch it, to connect to him once more in physical and emotional bond. They are his friends from high school, college and the 1st Cavalry Division. They are his brothers, nieces and nephews. They are his son. They are the grandchildren he could never know.
While I was only 10 years old when Pete was killed, I do have vivid memories of him as a young man, husband and father. He always seemed like a larger than life figure - - - strong, athletic, handsome, popular. Of course, a major contributing factor was that I was only a child literally looking up at grown man. But still, he seemed special. He married a beautiful, sweet woman in college and later fathered a beautiful son. He was a commissioned a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Army and was by all accounts an outstanding leader for his platoon. Pete was deployed to Vietnam in June 1967 when his son was short of turning 2 years old. Add all that together and you see why he was larger than life to me: a leader, a husband, a father, a brother, and a son. Then in January of 1968 Pete was lost in battle.
Years later the trips to The Wall are still emotional for me. I still want to touch the name, make contact with Pete. I remember him as being twice my size and the world beating a path to his door. I have the memories of him, but the next generation does not. That’s why I didn’t hesitate to respond to the National Call for Photos, a campaign to gather images of the more than 58,000 men and women whose names are on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. In this effort, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund (VVMF) is teaming up with FedEx Office to collect, scan and store photos of the people on the Wall. The images will be displayed at The Education Center at The Wall. As the VVMF writes, “the pictures being collected will form [the Education Center at the Wall’s] centerpiece: a larger-than-life wall of photos that will showcase pictures of those we lost during the Vietnam War on their birthdays.” That only seems appropriate to me: Pete will always remain larger than life.
While I was only 10 years old when Pete was killed, I do have vivid memories of him as a young man, husband and father. He always seemed like a larger than life figure - - - strong, athletic, handsome, popular. Of course, a major contributing factor was that I was only a child literally looking up at grown man. But still, he seemed special. He married a beautiful, sweet woman in college and later fathered a beautiful son. He was a commissioned a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Army and was by all accounts an outstanding leader for his platoon. Pete was deployed to Vietnam in June 1967 when his son was short of turning 2 years old. Add all that together and you see why he was larger than life to me: a leader, a husband, a father, a brother, and a son. Then in January of 1968 Pete was lost in battle.
Years later the trips to The Wall are still emotional for me. I still want to touch the name, make contact with Pete. I remember him as being twice my size and the world beating a path to his door. I have the memories of him, but the next generation does not. That’s why I didn’t hesitate to respond to the National Call for Photos, a campaign to gather images of the more than 58,000 men and women whose names are on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. In this effort, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund (VVMF) is teaming up with FedEx Office to collect, scan and store photos of the people on the Wall. The images will be displayed at The Education Center at The Wall. As the VVMF writes, “the pictures being collected will form [the Education Center at the Wall’s] centerpiece: a larger-than-life wall of photos that will showcase pictures of those we lost during the Vietnam War on their birthdays.” That only seems appropriate to me: Pete will always remain larger than life.
POSTED ON 3.6.2000
POSTED BY: Bob (Doc) Rinnert
A proud father
It has been over 30 years and I still remember Pete as if it were yesterday. He was a good person only 25, and very proud of his family. Had a wife and boy of 2 years I believe. He was so proud of that kid. I remember he had a picture of him kissing a little girl of the same age and he thought that was so great he had to show it to all of us so many times I couldn't count. "Hey Joe, did I show you the picture of my boy, Hey Bob have you seen my kid?"
We were forming up for a morning patrol off of a little firebase in the northern part of central highlands when a enemy mortar round hit just a meter or two from him. He is a hero and I will remember him as long as I live.
We were forming up for a morning patrol off of a little firebase in the northern part of central highlands when a enemy mortar round hit just a meter or two from him. He is a hero and I will remember him as long as I live.