Military relents to family's plea
Published on November 11th, 1998
STONEHAM, MA - A page of history was recorded right here in Stoneham on Monday as the United States Defense Department announced that the name of a local Air Force man will be added to the Vietnam Veterans War Memorial in Washington, DC, alongside that of his son's.
Fittingly, the ceremony to recognize Stoneham native Technical Sergeant Richard B. Fitzgibbon, Jr. as the first serviceman to be killed in the Vietnam War was held on the Town Hall lawn just two days before Veteran's Day.
Fitzgibbon's family has fought for the past 15 years to force the United States military to recognize that the Vietnam War started long before 1961, a date the family has suggested was chosen arbitrarily.
Fitzgibbon died while on duty in Saigon in 1956. His family has asserted for many years, that he should be honored by having his name engraved on the granite memorial alongside the thousands of others, including his own son, United States Marine Corp. Lt. Col. Richard B. Fitzgibbon III who died while in service to his country as well, in 1965.
The Fitzgibbons are believed to be the only father/son pair to die in the Vietnam War.
Spearheaded by the determination and tenacity of Fitzgibbon's sister, former Selectman and Stoneham resident Alice DelRossi, the Fitzgibbon family has battled long and hard for many years to get Richard the justice and recognition they felt he deserved.
When reached the night before the ceremony, DelRossi's relief was evident.
"I think I've cried more this week than in all these years," she told the Independent.
Family members spanning three generations were in attendance, including Eunice Fitzgibbons, wife and mother of the two men who will now be forever joined on the memorial.
DelRossi stated that, though the family believed very strongly that the Defense Department was wrong in not recognizing her brother's death as qualifying for inclusion on the memorial, it was not until U.S. Congressman Edward J. Markey got involved that closer attention was paid to what the family was saying.
"He's done a wonderful job...working with the Pentagon. We couldn't get near there," she said.
At Monday's ceremony, Markey told the crowd, "Today the family of Richard Fitzgibbon will receive officially what they have sought persistently, insistently and unremittingly for over a decade and a half..."
According to Markey, he was drawn to the Fitzgibbon family's cause when he first met Del- Rossi a year ago.
"That was the day that the people of Stoneham had brought the Moving Wall to their town," said Markey.
DelRossi pointed out her nephew's name on the Wall to Markey.
"She told me that every time she reaches out and touches his name, it's as if she can feel his spirit," said Markey. The inability to touch her brother's name on that same wall, however, has left a huge void in the Fitzgibbon family.
"If it's the last thing I do, I will heal this wound," she told Markey.
Markey took those words with him and began researching the family's claim.
Others began to help as well, including veterans such as Ret. U.S. Army M/Sgt. Ray Bows. In his publication, "No Room On The Wall," Bows refuted responses that the Fitzgibbon family had received from various individuals regarding their request.
"In those early years, American involvement in Vietnam was kept in the shadows and apparently has still not been recognized by the same government who sent young men to serve there...," he wrote.
Markey's research led him to Pulitzer Prize winning author Neil Sheehan. When questioned on the official start date of the Vietnam War, Sheehan advised that in the spring of 1956, the French officially lowered their flag and pulled their troops out of Indochina. That was significant, he told Markey, since it resulted in a total U.S. effort to train, support and fund the South Vietnamese.
Sheehan stated that the French ceremony took place on April 28, 1956 and that if a picture of the ceremony could be found and presented to the Pentagon, the Fitzgibbons' argument would be well supported.
Markey succeeded in securing a picture of the ceremony from the French embassy.
"I presented this and other evidence to the Pentagon, pointing out that the son obviously believed that he was fighting the same battle as his father, and that the historical record is now very clear retrospectively that this was one mission, not two," stated Markey.
Markey credited Under Secretary of Defense Rudy DeLeon and Principal Assistant Deputy Secretary of Defense Charles Cragin with agreeing to investigating the matter. Both men attended Monday's ceremony.
"As a result of careful and thorough review, Richard Fitzgibbon Jr.'s name will join his son's...Both paid the ultimate sacrifice...," DeLeon announced.
Last Thursday, the Pentagon sent directives to all military installations announcing that November, 1955, not January 1961, will now be the date acknowledged as the beginning of the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War.
"I believe historians will refer to this as the Fitzgibbon Admission," said Markey.
"It could not have happened without Alice...I'm amazed at how she's made the earth move," State Representative Paul Casey told the Independent.
Selectman Cosmo Ciccarello called the Fitzgibbon family's efforts a good lesson to young people.
"It goes to show you, if you want something bad enough, if you believe in something, keep fighting."
Fitzgibbon graduated from Stoneham High School in 1939. He served in the Navy from 1940 to 1945 during World War II, earning a Purple Heart. He continued to serve in the Navy during the Korean War, later transferring to the Air Force in 1954.
On June 8, 1956, while serving in Saigon, Fitzgibbon was killed by a member of his own squadron.
His son, Richard Fitzgibbon, III, was killed in 1965 in Chu Lai, while serving with the U.S. Marine Corp. Father and son were buried with full military honors in the Blue Hills Cemetery.
"Today in Stoneham, the healing can begin for the Fitzgibbon family," stated Markey. "They can think of Veterans Day 1998 as the moment when a great injustice was finally put right, and they can look forward to Memorial Day 1999 as a moment of great joy when Richard's name will join his son's in a sacred place of honor."
Robert Fitzgibbon, son of Richard Jr. and brother to Richard III, thanked the crowd for attending the ceremony.
"It's a beautiful day for the Fitzgibbon family," he said.
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