A New Twist On 12th Century Music
New Berlin Citizen CNI Papers
By John Schultz
George Joseph Carr is never far from the hearts of his parents.
On fact, the Vietnam veteran who died in service to his country is only about 60 feet from his parents' back door today. Killed in non-battle action in Vietnam, his body now rests in Holy Apostles Cemetery in New Berlin.
"I visit him every day," his father, John Carr, said this week.
I don't let myself allow his memory to disappear."
A gravel path leads from the Carr's back door, through the woods to Holy Apostles Cemetery.
Spec.4 George Carr was 21 years old and in the Army when he was working on a civil action team assigned to help the local people to improve their way of life, his father said. The team was working to purify drinking water and improve sanitation in a Vietnamese village.
It was May 29, 1967, when a crew Carr was working on was blasting rocks out of a stream. Carr and on other soldier were killed when an explosive accidentally went off.
But it wasn't until 10 years later that John and his wife Lillian knew the details of their son's death. A Kentucky soldier named Ed Bright was working on the project the day George and another soldier were working on the stream and saw the accident.
Learning the real story
George died a hero, but it took 10 years for the family to find out.
John's daughter Eileen tells the story of Bight's phone call - how John heard a few references to Vietnam and his son George, but could not understand the man's thick accent.
He was about to hang up the phone but decided to ask question only a man in George's company would know - The name of the company's pet monkey.
Bright of course, remembered the mane and the family thin heard the story of how George died.
Eileen, who will sing at the site of the Vietnam Veteran Moving Memorial, was in a band back in the "70s that played near Blight's home town. Eileen brought her mother along and looked up Bright.
It was truly a moving experience as Bright, whose legs were injured in Vietnam helicopter accident, got down on the floor and showed Eileen and Lillian just how he had died.
"George was really loved in his unit" Eileen said." And the kids all called him GI Joe."
