Awarding honor, 40 years later

LACONIA — Priscilla Gottwald lives in Massachusetts now, but she still spends a lot of time in Laconia, where she grew up. She was back in the city on Memorial Day when she noticed something missing: the names of two classmates who served in Vietnam weren’t included on the wall of honor at Veterans Square.

That didn’t sit well with Gottwald, whose last name was Moynihan when she graduated from Laconia High School. She understands, as well as any civilian can, what was asked of the young Americans who were sent into combat halfway around the world.

“My husband is a Vietnam vet, his brother was killed there,” Gottwald said.

Yet, she also saw an opportunity to correct the omission. An extra panel had been built, along with the rest of the monument, to account for the likelihood that there were names missed.

But, when she contacted the Laconia VFW Post 1670, she was told it would be too expensive to add two more names.

Not that expensive, actually, Gottwald found. Charles “Buck” West, another Vietnam veteran, volunteered to install the nameplates, which left about $400 in materials cost. Gottwald raised that, plus a little bit more to donate to the VFW, through a GoFundMe campaign, and earlier this fall the additions were made to the monument.

This Veterans Day will be the first time that the holiday’s commemorations will take place in front of a list of names that include Frederick Speck and Lawrence Howe, both members of Gottwald’s graduating class who served in the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War.

Gottwald’s achievement fulfills a desire that Howe has had for a while.

“She’s done quite a job on that. I have for years tried to contact the VFW or American Legion, they were too busy or it cost too much money,” to get his name added, he said. “Whatever she did, it worked. She’s fabulous, a real advocate for veterans.”

Howe did two tours in Vietnam, first in 1967-68 on a heavy cruiser, and on an aircraft carrier 1970-71.

It was during his first tour that he experienced the most combat, Howe said. “We saw a lot of action, we were on the line almost every night,” he said.

Howe was a gunner’s mate, a spotter really, in the turret of one of the 8-inch guns, working as part of a team that sent hundreds of rounds of the heavy artillery toward enemy targets.

“When you’re sitting in those turrets, wearing those antiquated earmuffs, it’s like having a shotgun go off inside a tube,” Howe said.

He was in California when he was discharged, and he decided to stay there. He had injured his shoulder while in Vietnam, and was exposed to Agent Orange, yet didn’t find any help from the government.

“As a veteran, they had no use for us. I went to the VA, couldn’t get in. They had a beautiful hospital out there and they didn’t want us,” Howe said.

Howe moved on with his life. He met his wife, Cheryl, and they started a family. He first sold insurance, then had a second career working for the food distribution company Sysco, first in sales, then in management and consulting.

After nearly 40 years on the West Coast, Howe and his family moved to Maine. One of his sons, who had enlisted as in the U.S. Marine Corp., gave him the name of his local VA hospital, and he finally received the disability benefit and medical treatment he deserved.

“Everything I was due, all of a sudden came to light,” Howe said. “They’ve taken care of us since we’ve been in Maine.”

Howe and Cheryl now live in Arizona, and he said having his name on the monument is another wrong righted.

“Out of the clear blue, Priscilla, who I’m very appreciative of, she just instant messaged me one night. ‘You were in Vietnam, why is your name not on it?... Well, you’re going to be.’ Incredible young lady to do that for Fred and I,” Howe said.

It turns out that Howe and Speck have another connection. One day on a river in Vietnam, Howe’s cruiser was resupplying another vessel, and he got a message that someone on the boat knew him. He got on the ship’s phone, and spoke to Speck. He said he doesn’t remember what they talked about, but still recalls the comfort of hearing a voice from home.

Speck said he was drafted in 1966, joined the U.S. Navy, and was assigned to an assault craft unit. “In Vietnam, they referred to this as the brown water Navy,” he said. “We drove small boats that delivered marines, ammunition, tanks and groceries upriver in the Mekong Delta.”

They weren’t just boring deliveries, as the four, 50-caliber machine guns on each boat attested.

“We got into a few firefights, we lost a few boats that hit mines in the river. I was one of the lucky ones,” Speck said. His brother, David, who served in the U.S. Army, wasn’t so lucky. He was killed in Vietnam.

Speck said he was only obligated to do one tour in country, but said “it was so uncomfortable being stateside, we immediately requested to go back to Vietnam.” Speck served a second tour, then half of a third, in Vietnam. “They gave you $100 a month in combat pay, how could anyone turn that down,” he joked.

Speck was discharged in 1972 and, like Howe, stayed on the West Coast. He studied economics and political science at the University of California, Berkeley, then counseling at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon. He worked in admissions and financial aid, then emergency psychiatric services.

“I still dabble in the business. I now live in Austin, Texas, and do contract work for the Travis County Sheriff’s Department. I have to admit, it’s a lot of fun,” Speck said.

Unlike Howe, Speck didn’t really feel bothered by being left off the monument.

“I had a good experience coming home. I’m not one of the people that felt disrespected, even in Berkeley,” Speck said. “At first I said (to Gottwald), I appreciate what you’re doing, but I have to say it didn’t excited me. But once it happened, and she sent me a photograph of Larry’s and my name, I was greatly affected, in a positive way. I offer her a huge amount of kudos, and I am proud that my name is on the Laconia plaque.”

Gottwald said it’s been a rewarding task.

“They are thrilled, so that makes me feel good,” she said.