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NSU Alumni Lead Effort For
Memorial To War Causalities

Leonard E. Colvin
Chief Reporter
New Journal & Guide
 
       In February of 1971 after a tour of duty in South Vietnam, First Lt. James Edward III was visiting his  Alma Mater, Norfolk State University when he encountered his childhood friend Alan Boffman, who was heading to Southeast Asia.
       The two men, who had grown up together in Norfolk and had a special  kinship, conversed about Lt. Edwards’ past  experiences in Vietnam and Lt. Boffman’s future ones.
       Lt. Edwards  recalled he had cheated death twice and earned two Purple Hearts as a member of the Army’s Airborne forces. Boffman was a trained helicopter pilot and would transport troops to the battle and retrieve their dead or alive from the battle field.
       “The last thing I remember him telling me was ‘don’t crash and burn’, a warning to airborne troops that their parachute may not open once they jump out of a plane,”  Edwards recalled. “One month later, I got word that he had died. The helicopter he flew crashed and burned. That stuck with me.”
       About a decade ago, the heavily burned and damaged helicopter which Lt. Boffman died in was found and his remains were identified and buried; his contributions to defending his country honored.
       In 1984, to find a way to honor the sacrifices of Lt. Boffman and other graduates of NSU who have lost their lives in defense of their country, Edwards wrote a letter to the president of the school proposing a war memorial be erected some place on the school’s campus
He got no answer.  He wrote several other letters. He wrote to the last two presidents and although his idea was endorsed with letters from the school’s leaders, “there was never any follow through to act on it.”
       Until now.
       First Lt.  James Edward III is now Rev. James Edward III, and the pastor of The Rose of Sharon Missionary Baptist Church in Chesapeake.   He  and other members of the NSU military and civilian alumni  are now raising money for a war memorial on  campus.
       According  to  Maurice  C. Hawkins of the NSU Alumni Department,  the unveiling of the memorial which will be a tribute to the school’s alumni who died defending their country will take place in November as a special event in conjunction with a Veterans Day NSU football game.
   

Posted March 26, 2008

      Hawkins said school officials in the upper echelons of the NSU administration have “given positive” signals of endorsement for the project. 
     He said that the school is still seeking to finalize the design for the memorial which may be placed near Wilson Hall, the school administration building or the historic Brown Hall which was the school’s main administrative and academic building during its initial days of operations.
       Rev. Edwards said four names will be on etched on the surface of the memorial once the design is finalized and its location defined in the coming months. 
       Those four names include Colonel Alfred Barnes,  Lt. Alan Boffman, Lt. Linwood Carter and  enlisted man William Johnson.  Barnes taught Military Science at the school before being sent to Vietnam.  The other three men were residents of Norfolk.
       Rev. Edwards said no names from the nation’s recent wars will be added, “thank goodness.”
       He said that other colleges and universities around the state, such as Virginia State and Old Dominion, have some form of  memorial plaque or monument erected to honor alumni who have fought and died in combat over the decades.
Hawkins said that the memorial will cost some $8,000. He said that donations to fund it are coming in at a steady stream at this point in time.
       “We do not  want any names added to the monument if we can help it,” said Rev. Edwards. “But you never know. Plus, we are trying to make sure that every alumnus who has died in all of the wars since the school’s creation are added  to it. Each one of these men and women sacrificed a lot to defend our country. I think we should do this much for them.”
       For more information, call 757-823-8135 or visit www.alumni.nsu.edu.

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