To remember and honor the six young men from New Ulm who died in the Vietnam war — Dennis Weldon Wellmann, Daniel William Lloyd, Henry Clarence Polzin, Timothy Emmett Sullivan, Steven Carl Seemann, and Rickey Allen Slander.

The monument sponsored by Bruce Lambrecht and Jeanne Braun was also designed to remember and honor all who served, the families that supported them, and offer a glimpse of the war to those who visit the monument but know little about the events being memorialized.

Wellmann, a 1963 New Ulm High School grad, grew up on a farm near Hanska. He enlisted in the Marine Corps. While serving as a radio operator in Vietnam, his company became trapped by a heavy barrage of grenades, automatic weapons, and anti-aircraft machine gunfire. Despite being under attack, he stayed at this post, reporting enemy positions to coordinate his unit’s response, helping spare the lives of many soldiers in E Company, 4th Marines, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Division.

Lloyd graduated from NUHS in 1963 and Mankato State College in 1967 with a degree in political science and history. He planned to attend law school but enlisted in the Army Reserve.

Daniel Lloyd

After completing officer training, he was deployed to Vietnam with B Company, 5th Infantry, 1st Battalion, 25th Army Infantry Division. He died of enemy booby trap fragments 11 days after he arrived in Vietnam.

After graduating from NUHS in 1968, Polzin worked in the Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing (3M) Electro Products Divisions before enlisting in the Army as his draft number got closer.

In his letters home, Polzin always ended them with the number of days until his active military duty time was finished. Serving with Troop 3, 1st Cavalry, 11th Light Infantry Brigade, he died instantly at age 19 years, six months when the half-track (vehicle with regular wheels and a track) he was driving hit a landmine.

Timothy Emmett Sullivan enlisted in the Army, served with A Company, 501st Infantry, 1st Battalion, 101st Airborne Division. He died in Vietnam when a rocket-propelled grenade detonated near him, three months before his 20th birthday.

Seemann joined the Army in 1969 with dreams of becoming a pilot. He learned to fly the Bell UH-1 (Huey) helicopter and flew combat missions daily for the 336th Aviation Company, 164th Aviation Group, 13th Aviation Battalion, 1st Aviation Brigade.

Henry Clarence Polzin

Seemann volunteered for an emergency resupply mission to a post under attack. Hit by heavy enemy fire, he died in a crash two days before his 20th birthday.

Slander enlisted in the Air Force, became an aircraft engine mechanic and served with the Strategic Air Command Pacific Forces and 483rd Tactical Airlift Wing.

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Monument was designed by Rick Prescott who also wrote information on its panels. A book about the Vietnam Veterans Memorial printed by Schoolhouse Productions, contributed to the story.

Timothy Emmett Sullivan

Steven Carl Seemann

Rickey Allen Slander