Veterans Day comes once a year, but a new online resource introduced by Forest Lawn Cemetery aims to honor fallen veterans throughout the year.
Titled "In Remembrance Of," the database is the byproduct of an eight year labor of love by Patrick Kavanagh, a Vietnam veteran, author and Forest Lawn historian.
The database includes profiles of 531 men and one woman from the eight counties of Western New York who died during active duty in Vietnam.
How did this comprehensive research begin?
“I started just to look around," Kavanagh said in a WBFO interview. "I went to some libraries and came up with the idea that boy, I think I’ll start to compile (information), whether it be a death notice or an obituary, maybe with a picture or some other information about those that had been killed.”
Kavanagh says his mission is to make it possible for these veterans to live forever in the minds and hearts of Western New Yorkers. Of the 532 people profiled, 20 were prisoners of war or missing in action, while 14 were Canadians who lived in Western New York before they left for duty.
The stories that he unearthed during his information-gathering odyssey were touching, Kavanagh said.
"The ones who wanted to come home and continue their education. The ones who wanted to be a lawyer or a policeman. The ones who said: 'mom and dad, I just want to come home and work on that cottage you bought.' It just didn't happen. I just don't want them or their sacrifices ever, ever forgotten."
The database can be found at forest-lawn.com. Kavanagh encourages anyone with additional information about the fallen heroes to contact the office at Forest Lawn.
