Vietnam Vet Will Be Honored At Observance

By Rick Wells, The News On 6

BROKEN ARROW, OK -- "No veteran should ever be forgotten."  That's the theme for Floral Haven's annual Memorial Day Observance.

A nearly forgotten veteran of the Vietnam War will be given a special place of honor in Saturday's ceremonies.

A bench will be the final resting place for Private Warren Nicholls at Floral Haven Memorial Gardens.

Don Clapsaddle is with the Military Order of the Purple Heart.  He has led an effort to properly honor a nearly forgotten Viet Nam veteran...

"Here's a man that was wounded in Vietnam to the point he was wheelchair-bound for the rest of his life.  Ge lived with this mother, attended college.  He went to Texas Christian," said Don Clapsaddle.

Clapsaddle got involved when an antique dealer in Broken Arrow, found a Purple Heart Medal in a footlocker he had purchased at a garage sale and there was more.

"There was his boots, and an old uniform that was so moth-eaten it had to be destroyed," said Don Clapsaddle.

That's not all.  Inside the footlocker was an urn containing Private Nicholls cremated remains. Nicholls died in 1987, so those remains had been there for more than 20 years.  Apparently his mother couldn't get the help she needed giving him a proper burial.

That's when Floral Haven stepped in.  They decided to remember Warren Nicholls in a special way.

As visitors enter the Veterans Field of Honor and walk through the Medal of Honor Court, they will find the bench containing Private Nicholls' ashes and his boots.

Floral Haven's annual Avenue of Flags Ceremony honoring Private Warren Nicholls and others, begins at 10 o'clock Saturday morning.