Vietnam virtual memorial still missing Fort Worth photos

Janna Hoehn uses any means possible to track down photos of those who died in Vietnam.

An article that she requested and published by the Star-Telegram in November helped locate 61 of the 85 missing from the Tarrant County area. The photos are among the more than 58,000 already on the virtual Wall of Faces being assembled by the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund.

Of the 24 missing from Tarrant County, all are from Fort Worth.

She said she is hopeful that by putting the missing names out there one more time, “we might be able to find a few more of these photos.”

“The response to the last story was incredible,” said Hohen, a Hemet, Calif., native who lives in Maui, Hawaii. “It was more than I’ve gotten from any other paper.”

The search has rarely been easy, Hohen said. “It can be very frustrating at times.”

One photo outside of Fort Worth that is still missing is that of Army Sgt. 1st Class Curtis Carl Nickerson.

Nickerson is the only name from Parker or Palo Pinto counties on the Vietnam Memorial Wall that still has no photo attached to it. Nickerson died in Vietnam on March 16, 1966, but the exact location is not known.

Jim Messinger and Jim Vines can vouch for that. Both men have been instrumental in the establishment and growth of the National Vietnam War Museum in far west Parker County, just outside Mineral Wells on U.S. 180. Compared with finding Nickerson, getting the museum going has been a breeze.

“Our guys tried for months,” said Messinger, the museum’s treasurer. “They looked for school records and went through yearbooks from Palo Pinto and Mineral Wells high schools. They went through Palo Pinto and Parker County records.”

Vines said he went through the Department of Defense and veterans services offices trying to get Nickerson’s service records. He hit a bureaucratic barrier, because he isn’t related to the man. Looking for Nickerson’s relatives was equally frustrating.

“I couldn’t find a marriage, or birth, or death certificate at the Palo Pinto Courthouse in Mineral Wells,” Vines said.

Vines’ group of detectives even looked for Nickerson’s people through the virtual wall’s comments section.

“We kept running into dead ends,” he said. “It was extremely frustrating because we wanted to honor him.”

Honoring the fallen is all Hoehn wants to do.

“I feel this is the most important thing I’ve ever done,” Hoehn said. “I turned 60 this year. I want to get this finished before I leave this Earth. So I need help.”

Still missing from Fort Worth are:

Frank L. Browning, 1951-1971

Richard C. Busby Jr., 1948-1968

Tommie A. Chambers, 1944-1968

James R. Davis, 1948-1969

James W. Davis, 1947-1968

James R. Fedro Sr., 1947-1968

Samuel Fields Jr., 1940-1970

Charles W. Hall Jr., 1948-1968

Davis E. Hardy, 1948- 1968

Franklin D. Hatton, 1939-1968

Rufus L. James, 1937-1966

Homer H. Lee, 1930-1968

Gary E. Marxmiller, 1948-1969

Phillip W. Meader, 1950-1970

Laurance R. Mohn Jr., 1946-1969

Samuel T. Owen, 1942-1971

Bill E. Ramsey Jr., 1934-1968

Richard C. Simmons, 1940-1969

Douglas R. Sledge, 1949-1969

Jerry W. Smith, 1945-1968

Ben W. Stephens, 1943-1968

Wayne L. Thomas, 1949-1969

James E. Weston, 1952-1971

Barney J. White, 1949-1968

This story contains information from the Star-Telegram’s archives.

This story was originally published May 27, 2016 at 12:29 PM with the headline "Vietnam virtual memorial still missing Fort Worth photos."