Two identical brown signs have recently been placed on either end of U.S. Business 68 in Cadiz — honoring four local men who died in the Vietnam War.
Born December 8, 1946 and a native of Cadiz, Jimmy Floyd Boren joined the Army and made Private First Class with 3rd Platoon, Company A, 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division before being killed in action November 17, 1965.
According to the Army timeline, this stretch would become known as the Battle of the Ia Drang Valley, in which the 1st Cavalry Division was ambushed by the 8th Battalion of the North Vietnamese 66th Regiment — following a prior skirmish between 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry and North Vietnamese forces at Landing Zone X-Ray. Though deemed an overall American victory, another encounter at Landing Zone Albany went awry for U.S. forces. Of the 500 soldiers in the original LZA column, more than 150 were killed, and only 84 could return to immediate duty.
He rests in Trigg County’s Boren Cemetery.
Born August 2, 1947, and a native of Cadiz, Ricky Fay Cossey joined the Army and made SP4 with the 1st Squadron of the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment (Blackhorse) before being killed in action December 18, 1968.
Beginning on that day, American B-52s and several fighter-bombers dropped more than 20,000 tons of explosives on the cities of Hanoi and Haiphong. U.S. forces lost 15 B-52s and 11 other aircraft in these attacks, while leaders of North Vietnam claimed more than 1,600 civilians died in the assault.
Originally of Golden Pond, Cossey rests in Calloway County’s Elm Grove Cemetery.
Born April 15, 1945, and a native of Cadiz, Buckner Crump Jr. enlisted in the Marines and was a Private First Class with Company B, 3rd Engineer Battalion, 3rd Marine Division, Third Marine Amphibious Force when he was killed in action June 7, 1967 in the Thua Thein province.
It’s here, from May 21 until July 9, where Operation Choctaw was underway through the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines; 1st Battalion, 4th Marines; 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines; and 3rd Battalion, 12th Marines. Each were coordinating in “search and destroy” missions.
Buckner rests in Crown Hill Cemetery in Cadiz.
Born March 2, 1941, and a native of Cerulean, Jerry Ardell Roberts enlisted in the Army and was 1st Lieutenant with Company A, 502nd Aviation Battalion, 12th Aviation Group, 1st Aviation Brigade when he was killed in action July 5, 1966.
Two operations, Cuu Long and Binh Phu, both went into effect that day — respectively serving as assaults on the Kien Hoa and Binh Dinh provinces. Roberts had already earned a Silver Star Medal for his “courage under fire” as a Rotary Wing Aviation Unit Commander.
A husband to Rita and father to a daughter, he rests in Cerulean Cemetery.
In a 2014 online memorial, his daughter, Marti Roberts Lopez, wrote: “Though I never knew you, as I was only 15 months old when you were killed in action, I have always felt immense pride in being your daughter. Sure wish I could have known you. You have always been remembered.”
All four of these citizens and fallen soldiers were recognized just before the Trigg County Country Ham Festival in 2016, during the opening ceremony of the Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall. There, this monument remained for two weeks, just across from East End Cemetery.
Dating back to the Revolutionary War, Trigg County is home to civilians who have served and/or died in every major American conflict — including some international.