JC Byrnes of Ventnor displays donated jewelry at The Arc of Atlantic County thrift store on Ventnor Avenue.
By NANETTE LoBIONDO GALLOWAY
VENTNOR – A thrift store find has led to the discovery of a friend who plans to give the man associated with its creation the respect he deserves.
“It’s the only bracelet like it that I’ve ever seen in the store,” said Joyce “JC” Byrnes of Ventnor, who has volunteered at The Arc of Atlantic County thrift store on Ventnor Avenue for the last 10 years. “We get a lot of jewelry donated and I usually take them home, fix what needs to be repaired and attach them to little cards.”
It has been about six years since she first discovered a bracelet in a pile of junk jewelry.
“I couldn’t throw it away or sell it, so I set it aside because I didn’t know what to do with it,” she said.
The bracelet was one of millions sold in the late 1960s and early 1970s to increase awareness about American soldiers unaccounted for during the Vietnam War. The POW/MIA bracelets were a half-inch wide and bore the names of service members of the Armed Forces who were missing in action and presumed dead or held captive by the enemy. Those shedding a light on the plight of prisoners of war and those missing in action paid $2.50 for stainless steel bracelets, or $3 for the copper version.
A copper bracelet bears the name of Ronald Paschall, who died in a helicopter crash in Vietnam.
The copper bracelet bearing the name of Ronald Paschall sat in a drawer for several years before Byrnes did a little research and discovered a website with information about his sacrifice to the nation.
“Two years ago, I put something on a veterans site saying I had this bracelet and what should I do about it,” she said.
The site belonged to Honor States.org, which honors Gold Star heroes who gave all for their country. Two years passed since she posted on the site, but on Sunday, she was surprised to finally receive a response.
Byrnes said she rarely uses her email account, but when she checked it on a whim Sunday, April 3, she noticed an email from a man who read her post about Ron Paschall.
“I never check, but for some reason, I decided to check it on Sunday. He sent his email just 15 minutes before I logged on and was wondering if I still had the bracelet and explained that he was in Ron’s platoon,” Byrnes said.
Hearing from Paschall’s comrade James Fentress, 68, a retiree from Florida, who also served in American Division, 8th Calvary, F Troop, made her feel “so happy but still sad,” she said.
“He explained that Ron was a squad commander and James had just joined his platoon when he was shot down in Vietnam,” Byrnes said.
James Fentress of Florida wears the POW/MIA bracelet bearing his comrade’s name.
Fentress said every year on April 2, the anniversary of the day Paschall’s helicopter went down just north of Quang Tri, South Vietnam, he researches his name on the internet to find out if there is any added information about him.
“That’s when I saw a message on the website from JC dated March 22, 2020,” Fentress said. “He was in my platoon. I only met him two weeks before he went down. I did not know a tremendous amount about him, but we did have a few beers together during that time.”
Fentress said he visited the Vietnam Veterans Monument in Washington, D.C., and discovered Paschall’s name on one of the end panels.
“He’s on the last section because he went missing at the end of the war,” Fentress said. “His name is located where the two walls come together in the shape of a V.”
Helicopter Maintenance Chief Ronald Page Paschall of Snohomish County, Washington, who enlisted in the Army, was 22 when his utility helicopter was downed with two other crew members on board, on April 2, 1972. He was reported missing and declared dead, but his body, and the bodies of his crew members were not recovered until Feb. 8, 1993. The remains of Paschall, Pilot John W. Frink, and Rotary Wing Byron K. Kulland were positively identified on Feb. 11, 1994, memorialized at the Court of the Missing in Honolulu, and all three were buried in a single coffin at Arlington National Cemetery.
According to the HonorState.org website, Paschall was awarded the Soldier’s Medal for his bravery in another helicopter crash on Oct. 6, 1970. According to the website, he risked his life to save his crew, including his company commander, from a helicopter just before it exploded.
Paschall held various other commendations, including the Bronze Star, Purple Heart, and Air Medal.
Fentress said he attends F Troop reunions each year in May where he meets other surviving pilots, crew chiefs and maintenance personnel and their families. The next reunion will be held in May near Columbus, Ohio.
“He is spoken of often during our reunions and remembered yearly on the anniversary of his sacrifice,” he said.
In an email to Byrnes, Fentress said he would be honored if the bracelet could be mailed to him in Florida, which Byrnes agreed to do.
“During our reunion this year, I will ask around if anyone knows about Ron and can help locate his family members in an attempt to get the bracelet to them,” Fentress said. “If there are none, I would be honored to wear it myself as a tribute to him.”
At 68 and now retired as corporate fund manager for the U.S. Treasury, Byrnes said the most impactful thing she remembers about the Vietnam War was that a neighbor in her hometown of Saxonbury, Pennsylvania, had died fighting in the war.
“At the time, it was the closest any of us kids came to understand war,” she said.
Her co-worker at the thrift shop, author Molly Golobcow encouraged her to tell the story of the bracelet to the media so others could learn of Paschall’s sacrifice.
“It’s touching,” Golobcow said. “And it is a story that comes full-circle. That bracelet came here with thousands of other items, and now, this man will not be forgotten. And with another war raging in Ukraine, this really hits home.”
Byrnes said she is happy to know that Ron will not be forgotten and that this story would remind Americans about the sacrifices made during the Vietnam War.
“This is just another opportunity to keep his name and sacrifice before the public,” she said.
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