In Memory Day honors those who sacrificed

By WILLIAM K. ALCORN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
Thomas Joseph Perry Sr., "Tha Tha" to his grandchildren, loved his garden and his job as manager of the bakery at the Boardman Giant Eagle.
Carl Emerson Christy, a retired Air Force master sergeant known as "Sarge," loved the military life, was active in his church, and was an avid swimmer.
Perry, of Campbell, and Christy, of Hubbard, were different men with different lives, but they had two compelling things in common.
They both served in the Vietnam War, and had their lives cut short because of lung cancer, attributed to exposure to Agent Orange while they were in Vietnam.
Agent Orange, so-called because of the orange stripe on its steel drum containers, is a toxic chemical defoliant used by the American military in Vietnam.
In Memory Day
The service and ultimate sacrifice of Perry and Christy, and that of nearly 200 others, will be recognized posthumously Monday at the sixth annual In Memory Day Ceremony at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.
The ceremony pays tribute to Vietnam veterans who died prematurely from noncombat injuries and emotional suffering caused directly by the Vietnam War, but whose names are not eligible for inscription on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
Perry, son of Adam and Cecilia Perry of Liberty, died June 23, 2002, at age 53. He served as an infantryman with the Marine Corps in Vietnam from September 1967 to June 1968 in Da Nang, Hue, and Quang Tri.
His wife, Joann, said he never talked much about Vietnam, except when he was drinking, and she does not know when or how he was exposed to Agent Orange.
Christy, born in Greenville, Pa., was 72 when he died March 29, 2003. He retired in 1970 after 22 years in the Air Force, during which he served in Korea in 1951, and was in Vietnam twice, from Dec. 14, 1967, to Dec. 8, 1968, and from Jan. 10, 1969, to June 30, 1970, at Tuy Hoa Air Base, as part of a civil engineer unit that built airstrips.
Mrs. Perry, the former Joann Ferraro of Youngstown, said she and her husband's mother and brothers, Samuel and Kenneth, both of Youngstown, planned to take part in the In Memory Day ceremony.
Participants will read aloud the names of their loved ones in chronological order by date of death, and will place tributes at the base of The Wall corresponding to the honorees' dates of service in Vietnam.
Joined Marines
Joann Perry said her husband quit school after his junior year at The Rayen School, where they met, and joined the Marine Corps in 1965.
They married in February 1970 after he was discharged from the military, and had five children: Lori Hickson of Plainfield, Ill.; and Melissa Stanko, Jennifer Perry, Suzanne Michelini and Thomas Jr., all of Campbell.
Perry worked 20 years at Valley Mould & amp; Iron in Hubbard, but lost his job when the company went bankrupt in 1990. After two or three years of floating, he began baking at Giant Eagle, completed a four-year apprenticeship, and became manager of the bakery at the store.
"He loved baking. You'd think he'd done it all his life. When I baked at home, he'd be telling me what to do," Joann said.
She said Thomas was "like a lot of other young men. He carried the war with him. He had flashbacks, and even when he was dying, he had to look at his Vietnam photo album. He couldn't let it rest, but the only time he'd talk about Vietnam was when he was drinking," she said.
She said they visited the Vietnam Wall twice.
"He went by so fast, I don't know if he even looked. Maybe it was too much to see. He said he knew people whose names are on the wall," she said.
Tom never joined any veteran's groups. He walked in once and didn't feel welcome, Joann said.
"Tom's name is not on the wall, but I think this would make him feel great," she said.
Carl and Alice knew each other at Corner House Christian Church in Hubbard, where he was an elder and treasurer and she was a deaconess and financial secretary. After his first wife, Shirley, died in January 1987, they were married April 8, 1988. Carl has two sons, Kenneth of Knoxville, Tenn., and Matthew of Hubbard; and three daughters, Melanie Schrum of Youngstown, Tracy Fiedler of Hubbard and Amy Stoffer of Youngstown. Alice's daughter, Janet Cetor, lives in Hubbard.
Alice, a retired registered nurse, said she and Carl were strong personalities, but they were usually able to talk things out.
"I called him 'Sarge,' and he said I would have made a hell of a major. That's when I knew I had won the battle. Our marriage was something while it lasted," she said with a smile.
"Carl was a wonderful father and grandfather, and one of the most likable people I ever met."
Didn't talk of war
He never talked about Vietnam except to other people who had been there, Alice said. He was a member of the 40 & amp;8 Organization of the American Legion and the Sharpsville, Pa., American Legion.
Carl worked for the Trumbull County Engineer's office as a draftsman for 23 years, retiring in 1992.
He died three weeks after he was diagnosed in March 2003.
"I brought him home from the hospital on Friday and he died at 11 a.m. Saturday. We were both Christians for many years. I know where he is," Alice said.
Carl loved the Air Force and was proud to serve his country. Where ever he was told to go, he went, she said.
"I think he would have appreciated the In Memory Day."
"Carl and the others gave so much of their time and life to their country, I'm glad someone now wants to recognize that and give something back them and their families," Alice said.
alcorn@vindy.com