AN UNKNOWN MOURNER

(Source of image: Online Photographic Collection of the Florida State Archives)

Does anyone know who this gentleman was?  On February 4, 1988, he visited a half-sized replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial that had opened in Jacksonville that day.  It attracted "thousands of mourners who came to remember their fallen comrades or loved ones," as noted by the Florida State Archives. Called "The Moving Wall," the replica has been touring America for almost twenty years, usually sponsored by nonprofit groups, according to its website at http://www.themovingwall.org/  The photographer of the poignant image was Jay Metz.

The pain of having lost someone in Vietnam can, of course, torment a survivor for the rest of his or her life.  Perhaps making an extremely difficult situation even worse is when the body of a deceased military member is not quickly found or ever recovered.  A sad example was the disappearance of Howard Brisbane Comer, Jr., in South Vietnam in 1969.  A twenty-four-year-old graduate of Jacksonville's Robert E. Lee High School, Mr. Comer was piloting a helicopter when it crashed into a river.  The vehicle and its surviving passengers were recovered, along with the bodies of two who were killed.  However, no trace was found of Mr. Comer.  Not until 2001 were his remains identified and laid to rest with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery.

Mr. Comer is one of 1,500 heroes who are honored on the black granite of the Duval County Veterans Memorial Wall, which stands as the focal point of the new downtown sports complex in Jacksonville.  The local men and women on the memorial made the supreme sacrifice for their country.

CLICK HERE for a Florida Times-Union article about Howard Comer, written by Lindsay Tozer

CLICK HERE for info about Mr. Comer at Rickelodeon.com

CLICK HERE for info from FlyArmy.org

CLICK HERE for a memorial page at VirtualWall.org