Kids & Family

11 West Chester Names on the Vietnam Wall

11 West Chester residents are remembered on the Vietnam Memorial.

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund wants a photo for every name on "The Wall" in D.C. So far, the organization has a picture for of the 58,000 men and women whose names are inscribed on the monument.

On the VVMF website, visitors can search the list of names on the wall by town, birthdate and rank. There are three Malvern men on the wall, all of whom have photos. Among the comments on their profiles are era Daily Local News articles and obituaries posted by a man named Jim McIlhenney. 

2nd Lt. Robert W. Donahue Jr., 21, was a graduate of the St. Agnes School and died in 1969 according to McIlhenny's post:

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Donahue was killed on patrol near the Cambodian border last Friday about two weeks after his arrival in South Vietnam.

Spec. Nataniel C. Matthews, 21, was a 1967 graduate of Henderson High School and a multi-sport athlete. Matthews attended Lincoln University for two years, where he played baseball and was awarded the All-American certificate in soccer in 1968.  Matthews died in 1971.

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Nataniel C. Matthews, 21, of 329 W. Chestnut st., West Chester, was killed Tuesday while on combat mission with the 35th Armored Division in Vietnam.
He was firing at a suspected hostile force when his weapon jammed. While clearing it, a round discharged and struck him.
Born in West Chester, he was a son of Mrs. Maybelle M. Smith.

Cpl. Ernest E. Orendorff Jr., 21,  was a graduate of Bishop Shanahan High School, and he had been in the Marines since 1968

Cpl. Ernest E. Orendorff Jr., son of Mr. and Mrs. Ernest E. Orendorff, of Meadow Brook la., West Chester, who was killed in action August 3, while on patrol with his Marine unit.
A Marine since 1964, Cpl. Orendorff was a graduate of Bishop Shanahan High School, West Chester.

The photos collected will be displayed in a :

The pictures will be displayed in an exhibit at the future Education Center at The Wall, an underground visitors center to be built near the Vietnam Veterans and the Lincoln memorials. Everyday, the center will celebrate the birthdays of service members who died during the Vietnam War by featuring their photos on a giant digital wall.

To see the complete list of West Chester casualties please click the link: here.


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