HILLTOWNS — Five young men who sacrificed their lives for their country more than four decades ago once drove the local roads that will soon bear their names in tribute.

At its meeting Tuesday, the Berne-Knox-Westerlo Board of Education hosted a special ceremony honoring the men and their families, with the participation of County Executive Daniel McCoy, State Senator George Amedore, Jr., a representative of State Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara, and an honor guard from the Altamont American Legion Helderberg Post 997.

On Oct. 13,  the Albany County Legislature authorized local veteran’s organizations  to place memorial road signs along designated roads on which the men lived their early lives.

From Switzkill Road in Westerlo to the countryside of Vietnam, where First Lieutenant Eugene Jerome Curless, Jr. met his death on March  25, 1968, is a distance of more than 8,000 miles. The Westerlo native  had been in Vietnam a little over two  months when he died in a heroic and successful effort to save members of his platoon who had come under enemy fire.

For his  valor, he was posthumously awarded  a Silver Star.  The award commendation describes the actions of  Lt. Curless after his platoon came under intense fire and several of his men were wounded. He organized a rifle squad and “led them against the enemy,”  which “allowed the extraction of all the wounded personnel.”  

Curless, however, did not survive: the non-commissioned officer  lay down his life for the men he led. He was 20-years-old, married, the father of a son who was months old. After leaving Berne-Knox-Westerlo High School, he had enlisted in the Army and had been serving for three years when he died.

The war that was to claim over 58,000 American lives before it ended was about four-years old at the time.

Switzkill Road, or Route 1, from Route 142 to Route 143, will soon have a second name, his name.  Signs reading Eugene Jerome Curless Jr. Memorial Highway — and more signs on other roads honoring four other men from the area who died in Vietnam— will become a permanent reminder of sacrifices made long ago by young men, the oldest of whom was 25, the youngest 19.

For Private First Class Glenn Raymond Gilbert, Beaver Dam Road, Route 303, was  his home road, the road  where he grew up, helping out on his family’s farm. Gilbert died barely two months after beginning his tour of duty on August 4, 1970. He was 22.

The youngest of the group, Corporal Robert Bruce Schampier was 19 when he died at Quang Nam. He arrived “in country” Sept. 26, 1967. He died March 6, 1968, killed by enemy fire. His tribute road will be Carr Road in Westerlo, a home-road he must have thought of often during his months in Vietnam.

Knox native son Richard John Mosley will have his Knox memorial: Knox Cave Road from Route 146 to Route 253. He served in Vietnam from Aug. 14. 1967 to March 6, 1968 when he died in Binh Dinh, killed by small arms fire. He was 20.

Bradt Hollow Road, from Route 157 to Route 311,  will also be known as Daniel Eugene Nye Memorial Highway. Staff Sergeant Nye died in Thua Bien in a helicopter  crash on Aug. 4, 1970. The West Berne native had been in Vietnam a little over eight months when he died.

All but Schampier, who served in the  United States Marine Corps , were soldiers in the United States Army.  They grew up near one another, mostly attended the same schools, and they died in the same  faraway place within months of one another.

Veterans united

Curless and Mosely, who attended Guilderland High School but like Curless had left school and enlisted, were also awarded posthumous diplomas from their high schools. As well as the diplomas, their families received proclamations honoring the men from both the State Senate and Assembly. They also received road signs to take home with them.

Stuart Mosley, the brother of Robert Mosley, knew just what he would do with the Robert J. Mosley Memorial Highway sign that he was given. “It will go on a wall in our home with his pictures and medals,” he said. Once two memorial signs are up on Knox Cave Road, “I will see them everyday on my way to work,” he said with great satisfaction.

One of Eugene Curless’s sisters, Mary Bell,  accepted the road sign on behalf of her family and said she would soon be on travelling with the sign to show it to her sisters who live in other places. “I want to show it to everyone,” she said with pride.

She likes to remember trout fishing with her brother in a creek near their home. “He was a good fisherman,” she said, “and loved to hunt, too.”

Knox resident and Vietnam veteran Ed Ackroyd has been working for many months, together with  veteran’s organizations, to ensure that these native sons  continue to be remembered, now and in the future.  Voorheesville Legion Post 1493 and Altamont Boyd Hilton VFW Post 7062, as well as Altamont American Legion Helderberg Post 977, have all gotten behind the effort. Ackroyd said dates for erecting the signs have not yet been set.

The website of the Vietnam Veterans  Memorial in Washington, D.C.— thewall-usa.com—is searchable to locate the location of each of these five mens’ names on the wall, as well as to learn more about them, including personal memorials and tributes.

In 2005, Jessica Weiler of  Waitsfield, Vermont,  left this tribute on the site  for Robert Schampier:

“Bob used to date my mother….She was telling me stories about him the other day, and had nothing but great things to say. She was recalling the letters that he had sent her from Vietnam. She also said that he served his country because he wanted to. He wanted to support his mother, and this was the way he could do it. That is what I call a true hero.”