A new book by a Times-Courier family member shines light on young Georgia soldiers who died in the Vietnam War.
In Some Gave All, Mark Millican profiles 23 young men from Gilmer, Whitfield and Murray counties, some of whom arrived in Vietnam as young as age 18.
Some of the fallen soldiers returned home, if only to reach their final resting places. Others — like Air Force flight surgeon Bobby Jones, who went down in a 1972 fighter plane crash and whose remains have still not been recovered — did not come home at all.
“This was the generation that wasn’t treated well at all when they came back from the war,” Millican said. “I hope this will be a step in the direction of honoring them.”
Millican, formerly an active duty U.S. Marine and Times-Courier editor, uses first-hand communication with family, friends and service members to tell the stories of these young men whose unrealized dreams and potential are remembered.
“Most of these men who died, their parents are gone. But brothers and sisters are still here, and they remember them,” he said. “The hurt is also still there, of losing a loved one, even 50 years later.”
Much of the book’s contents have been published in the Times-Courier, Dalton Daily Citizen and Chatsworth Times newspapers, all for which Millican previously worked. The series of stories started in 2020, when Millican chronicled the men from Gilmer who died in the Vietnam War, and grew in scope from there.
“Dalton is my hometown, and Gilmer, Murray and Whitfield are my backyard. People kept saying, ‘You need to put this into a book.’ The more I thought about it, the more it made sense,” he said. “Only God could’ve opened up some of the doors he did on this. It was just incredible the way things unfolded. One thing after another just fell into place.”
Still, it was not an easy subject to write or talk about, Millican confirmed. Tears were shed, but the family members’ and friends’ willingness to talk was invaluable, he said.
“There were times when it was very emotional for them. They all went above and beyond the call of duty, so to speak, to honor their family members and friends, even though they sometimes did it with a broken heart,” he said. “I think because many of them were familiar with my writing and the newspaper, they knew I was trying to honor these men. They were very welcoming, and there were many times that it seemed therapeutic for them to talk about it.”
Millican credits several Gilmer County residents for helping the project reach completion and track down people who knew the fallen sons, dads and brothers.
“Max Frady made the initial suggestion that I write about the veterans from Gilmer County who died in Vietnam. Robert Westmoreland was really my point man for Gilmer County. He pointed me to the right family and friends of every veteran I wrote about from Gilmer. My wife, Theresa, has been a tremendous help, and so has Ben Arp (a Vietnam veteran and former Gilmer schools superintendent), who wrote the forward for the book,” Millican said.
“There was one guy, Tommy Rogers, who I’d never have found anything on,” he added. “Bryant Strickland, who’s also a Vietnam veteran, stepped to the fore on that. He served with some of the guys from Ellijay and knew Tommy Rogers from the chicken plant.”
In his research, Millican found that six men from Gilmer County died while serving in the Vietnam War. Each of the 23 from the three counties were between the ranks of private first class and sergeant at their times of death.
Millican did not personally know any of the veterans profiled in the book, although his mother, Ann, taught school in Dalton and likely knew or taught some of the ones from Whitfield. “There’s only one who I may have even seen at one time because he was a neighbor of a friend of mine,” he added.
Millican said he does have a special connection with the family of one of the profiled veterans. Billy Edmond, an Air Force technical sergeant, died when when the plane he was on, which was headed to Taiwan, crashed. The entire crew aboard the C-130 Hercules perished.
Although he’s been friends with Edmond’s sons since childhood, Millican didn’t know all the details of what happened to their dad until working on the book.
“The mom (of the family) was like a second mother to me, and I ran around and played ball with her sons,” he said. “It was very emotional for me, as well, doing that one. After all these years, I never knew the story behind what happened to their dad. I just knew he’d been killed in a plane crash.”
Some Gave All: Profiles of the Men From Gilmer, Murray and Whitfield Counties in North Georgia Who Died in the Vietnam War is Millican’s second book. He previously authored Wild, But True, Stories of the Outdoors (and Other Southernalia), a collection of true nature and outdoorsy tales.
Millican will have a book signing Saturday, Aug. 13, from 8:30 a.m.-2 p.m., at Double L Restaurant, 449 Industrial Blvd.
He can be contacted by those who want to purchase a copy of Some Gave All at trail_blazer@ellijay.com. Copies are also available at the Times-Courier office.
“This has been a humbling project when I consider what these families have gone through for all these years. I just feel honored to be able to write about them,” Millican said.