War dead memorial planned

Published 12:00 am Friday, March 21, 2014

Vietnam War veteran Gene Shumaker of Clemmons is on another mission — to honor war casualties from Clemmons and Lewisville who didn’t make it home alive.

West Forsyth High has agreed to plant memorial bricks on the campus for its graduates who died in war. Business friends have agreed to pay for the bricks.

For Shumaker, now the task turns to identifying those who have been killed, and he is asking for help from Courier readers.

So far, he has these names of Vietnam War casualties:

• Dallas C. Shelton of Lewisville, killed June 20, 1969 in South Vietnam.

• Hubert Samuel “Sammy” Tilley Jr., killed May 11, 1969 in South Vietnam.

Shoemaker also has the name of Tommy Dickerson. Official records give him a Rockville, Md., birthplace, but the local VFW claims him as one of their own.

The website, www.VirtualWall.org, which documents all the names on the Vietnam War Memorial lists only one casualty from Clemmons, Sgt. Clarence Edward Lowder, 45, a ground casualty in South Vietnam Sept. 8, 1969. There are no listings for Lewisville. However, there are 41 listed with Winston-Salem origins, including Tilley.

Shumaker wonders if some others of those might be West Forsyth students or grads.

A casualty of war from Afghanistan is David Timmons, killed when his helicopter was shot down.

Shumaker doesn’t want to leave anyone out. Readers who can help him identify the names should call him at 408-5040.