Memorial Day

Author’s Note: This column is about Anthony Chandler, the first cousin of my father and Monticello resident Paul Bridges. Chandler died in the line of duty in Vietnam in 1968. I wrote this column in 2015 but wanted to share it again in observance of Memorial Day this year. Slight updates have been made since the original column was written. In the spring of 1988 my father, mother and myself were able to visit the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C. We sought out and found Anthony Chandler’s name on the wall among the almost 60,000 others.

Monday, May 27, is Memorial Day for 2019.

It’s a day which I’m glad to say many do seem to take notice of and honor all men and women who have honorably served our country in one branch of the military or another and giving their lives for our freedom.

In this space, I’d like to share the story of such a veteran that I grew up hearing about, but never had the honor to meet. Anthony Chandler, a first cousin of my father, died in the line of duty while serving our country in Vietnam. It would take 33 years after an explosion aboard his Navy swift boat off the coast of Vietnam before he returned home, however.

Chandler’s story, especially the circumstances of his returning home, was well documented almost 15 years ago in a story in The Macon Telegraph. The information I am relating below was compiled in that article written by Telegraph reporter Travis Fain.

In reality, it was simply a small piece of Chandler’s arm which was returned home, and his family and friends laid his remains to rest in the Middle Georgia Centerville City Cemetery in a family plot in the summer of 2001.

It was long overdue for Chandler’s parents, Jack and Bessie Young, who years ago knew their son had died for his country. However, now they had part of him back on Georgia soil. Their son was back where he belonged.

John Davis, who served with Chandler on the boat the night he was killed in action, probably summed things up best when he said at the funeral, “He stood out above everybody on our ship, on every ship.”

Many of those who gathered on that hot Middle Georgia summer afternoon did not know Anthony Chandler. However, they knew of his service to his country, and that’s all that mattered.

By all accounts, the hit on Chandler’s boat that night was from friendly fire, a tragedy that actually occurs often in the heat of battle. Some of those there that night, however, still maintain there were Vietnamese helicopters in the area and still have doubts as to whose missile struck the boat.

Despite one crew member remembering helping place four men into body bags, including Chandler’s, his body never made it home.

That left a long and no doubt painful lingering doubt about Anthony Chandler. The healing continued through the years until 1993 when a Vietnamese fisherman reported he had found a fragment and buried it near his home.

After obtaining a DNA sample from his mother, testing would later confirm the remains belonged to Chandler after comparisons were made to his mother’s DNA as well as his own military records. Chandler’s remains were then finally sent home to his family in Warner Robins.

During Chandler’s funeral that hot, steamy summer day those in attendance sang “Amazing Grace,” and a 21-gun salute shattered the silence of those gathered. “Taps” was played, and the many veterans, some who had traveled from several states away for the service, gave Chandler a simple, yet meaningful, final salute.

Finally, an American flag was carefully folded and presented to Chandler’s mother, Bessie.

It took the passing of many years, decades even, but Anthony Chandler received a fitting and proper salute. On Memorial Day, 2019, his courage and sacrifice to our country is something we should all be thankful for. I remember during a high school class trip in the spring of 1988 visiting the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C. and seeing Chandler’s name. It’s a moment which stays with me today, decades later.

I never had the chance to meet Anthony Chandler in person, but I wish I had. I wish I had the chance to shake his hand and say, “Thank you.” Still, in some ways I feel I knew him.

I salute him and all those from towns big and small across this country who have worn a uniform and done so willingly and especially to those like Anthony Chandler who helped provide me with the blanket of freedom I often take for granted.

Monticello native Chris Bridges is a long-time newspaper columnist who has written for The Monticello News since 1988. He has earned awards for his columns from the National Newspaper Association, the Georgia Press Association and the Georgia Sports Writers Association. He welcomes feedback about this column at pchrisbridges@gmail.com.