Robert Swift: Capitol Matters: Honoring those who have fallen

Published: August 28, 2011

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HARRISBURG - In a tree-lined sunken grove at the Capitol complex, there are rows of embedded granite memorials honoring individual recipients of the Medal of Honor from Pennsylvania.

The memorials in the Soldiers' and Sailors' Grove are grouped by the conflicts that America has been engaged in since the Civil War.

There is a row reserved for Medal of Honor recipients in the Korean Conflict from 1950 to 1953. And a separate row for the Korean campaign of 1871, a brief incursion almost lost to history.

The row for the Vietnam War has 15 memorials. Etched on them are the names of the medal recipient, and well-known wartime locations in Vietnam such as the Ia Drang Valley and Que Son Valley where they performed the heroic act that earned them the medal.

At a ceremony last week, a new memorial was unveiled in the Vietnam War row. It differs from the others because it cites Laos, Vietnam's neighbor to the west, as the location of combat action.

"Richard L. Etchberger 3/11/1968 Lima Site 85 Phou Pha Thi Laos"

Chief Master Sgt. Etchberger, a native of Hamburg, Berks County, was killed in action while helping evacuate three wounded comrades from their radio station in Laos. Hundreds of North Vietnamese troops had attacked the station on March 11, 1968.

"When air rescue arrived, Chief Etchberger deliberately exposed himself to enemy fire in order to place his three surviving wounded comrades in the rescuer slings permitting them to be airlifted to safety," his citation for an Air Force Cross award states.

Chief Master Sgt. Etchberger was one 40 Air Force personnel asked to become civilian contractors and work on a secret mission operating radar installations in Laos. It took 42 years for Chief Master Sgt. Etchberger to receive the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military honor. The secret nature of the Laos mission and Chief Master Sgt. Etchberger's civilian status at the time of his death contributed to the delay. President Obama presented the Medal of Honor to Chief Master Sgt. Etchberger's family last year, thus paving the way for the Capitol ceremony.

The Etchberger ceremony prompted one state lawmaker to emphasize the need to have a plan for the future use of Soldiers' Grove.

Rep. Stephen Barrar, R-160, Boothwyn, said space is dwindling for memorials to future Medal of Honor recipients in the grove.

"With the number of honorees expected to be memorialized on these grounds, we may run out of space as early as 2016," he said. "We have to take action now to ensure that our future heroes receive the tribute they deserve."

Mr. Barrar chairs a special House committee that is due to provide recommendations on the future of Soldiers' Grove by the end of 2012. The House approved a resolution in June establishing the committee.

"He (Chief Master Sgt. Etchberger) sacrificed and gave his life for this nation and earned the distinction of being honored on the hallowed ground in Soldiers' Grove," added Mr. Barrar. "It would be offensive to him and to all other current and future Medal of Honor recipients to ignore the issues facing this memorial."

ROBERT SWIFT is Harrisburg bureau chief for Times-Shamrock Communications newspapers, of which The Daily/Sunday Review is a part. E-mail: rswift@timesshamrock.com.

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