ITEMS LEFT AT THE WALL

Black & white photographic print taken 'in-country' in Vietnam [?] and dedicated to U.S. Navy Yeoman First Class (YN1) Oliver Earl Durham. The artifact was left at The Wall as part of a larger artifact assemblage (VIVE (4647 & 4648)) by Paul R. Salley on Veterans Day, November 11, 1986.

BLACK & WHITE, GLOSSY PHOTOGRAPHIC PRINT (LANDSCAPE ORIENTATION) DEDICATED TO U.S. NAVY YEOMAN FIRST CLASS (YN1) OLIVER EARL DURHAM. THE PRINT DEPICTS AT LEAST FOUR (4) MARINE VESSELS (LIKELY U.S. NAVY RIVERINE PATROL CRAFT SERVING IN VIETNAM [?]) AT ANCHOR IN AN UNIDENTIFIED WATERWAY. WITHIN THE FOREGROUND OF THE IMAGE AT THE OBVERSE OBJECT SURFACE OF THE PRINT, AN INDIVIDUAL SERVICE MEMBER WEARING U.S. MILITARY ISSUE FATIGUES AND A MILITARY-STYLE BERET WITH A U.S. NAVY TASK FORCE 116 MOBILE RIVERINE FORCE BERET FLASH (MOST LIKELY VIVE (4647 & 4648) BASED UPON CONTEXT OF OBJECT DONATION [?]) SITS INSIDE ONE OF THE VESSELS WHILE READING A NEWSPAPER. A HANDWRITTEN INSCRIPTION IN BLUE INK AND BLOCK SCRIPT/ARABIC NUMERALS AT THE REVERSE OBJECT SURFACE IDENTIFIES THE SUBJECT OF THE PHOTOGRAPH, AS WELL AS HIS CASUALTY INFORMATION, HOMETOWN, AND VIETNAM VETERANS MEMORIAL (VVM) WALL LOCATION INFORMATION. THE INSCRIPTION ALSO IDENTIFIES THE DONOR AND CIRCUMSTANCES OF DONATION. THE OBJECT IS ASSOCIATED WITH VIVE (4647 & 4648).

Text of handwritten inscription at the reverse object surface is transcribed in full, as follows: "Oliver Earl Durham YN1 / 12-May 41 KIA Died 27 Nov 68 / Honey Grove, TX / 38W Line 73 / Wall in Wash. D.C. / No other man will I be prouder of: Paul R. Salley / Paul R. Salley / 513 Brewster / Lombard, IL 60148 / 312-620-155 D / Picture placed Veteran's Day 11-11-86"

Item Weight: 3.8g
Item Length: 9.0cm
Item Width: 13.75cm