09 Mar 2007 You have come to The Virtual Wall to look at all the names of people you don't know - maybe to express your sorrow for the lives that were taken while defending someone else's freedom. I want you to know one of those names: Freddy Paul Heugel, panel 31W, line 36. His name is on the left because it was added after The Wall was originally erected. He died as a result of wounds he received in Vietnam. He was born in West Virginia, was 6'1" tall, with blonde hair, blue eyes and grew up in Michigan. He was a gentle, caring, sentimental man with a great sense of humor. He and I met on a blind date and fell deeply in love. We were inseparable, spending every possible moment together. And when we weren't together, we were talking on the phone. We loved going to the movies, listening to music, and holding each other. We planned to get married, have lots of children, and be happy forever because we loved each other so much. He was 19 years old when his number came up in the Draft. (We were on vacation in Cape Coral with my family when he got the news.) He came home from Vietnam with massive injuries just five months after he left. When he found out how bad it was, he refused to see me. I was devastated. With the help of my parents I went on with my life. I My heart is full of memories of him and our time together. I loved him so very much and it still hurts when I think about what happened. While I grieve for the first man I ever loved, I also celebrate the existence of this extraordinary monument. From his former fiancee, Linda A. (Veinotte) Brooks lindabrooks@earthlink.net

 

A Note from The Virtual Wall The history of the 6th Battalion, 15th Artillery includes an entry noting that the Fire Direction Center bunker was hit on 24 Feb 1969, and that SP4 Robert L. Shiroda of Houghton, Michigan, was killed and SP4 Freddy P. Heugel of Dearborn Heights, Michigan, wounded in the incident. SP4 Huegel, badly wounded, was evacuated. Although he survived his injuries, on 12 May 1984 he died as a result of complications from them. His name was added to the Vietnam Veterans' Memorial on Veterans' Day 1989, five years after his death.

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