When we moved into our house on Douglas D. Alley Drive in Newark, DE, about a year ago,  I knew nothing about the person for which our street is named,
nor did I give it much thought.  During a recent web search I noticed the words "Douglas Dwight Alley" and "Vietnam".  Quite by accident, I had entered a site listing the names of Delaware citizens appearing on the Vietnam Memorial Wall in Washington D. C.   Douglas Dwight Alley of Newark, Delaware, Alpha Company, 1st mechanized battalion, 5th Infantry, 25th Infantry Division, appears on Panel 5E, line 78 of the Wall.  Killed in action: February 26, 1966.  Ground casualty.  Cause of death: Multiple fragmentation wounds, hostile.  Age at death: 20.

Douglas Alley was 20 years old when enemy shrapnel ended his life in Vietnam over 35 years ago.  Although there is no real connection between him and I besides my address, I wanted to learn more about this young man. I visited the University of Delaware library and searched newspaper archives from around the time of his death for more information.

The Wilmington Evening Journal dated February 28, 1966 provided a summary
of Douglas' life.   After graduating from Newark High School, he worked at a local dairy farm before being drafted.  He was married while home on leave in November 1965.  Three months later, Douglas was killed while on patrol near Cu Cui,  25 miles north of Saigon, a mere sixteen days after his arrival in Vietnam.  He and his young wife Pat never had a chance to share a home of their own.

A grainy newspaper picture of Douglas reveals a casual and confident young man, one eyebrow raised, a hint of a smile.  A boy trying to look like a man - killed in action after less than three weeks in Vietnam.  His picture, combined with the details of his life and death, made the tragedy of his loss very real and personal for me.

Douglas was one of two Delaware men killed in Vietnam that day - the seventh and eighth Delawareans killed in the line of duty in Vietnam.  A week after Douglas' death, the editorial page of the Wilmington Evening Journal included a quote from a man who may have known Douglas:   "That boy used to cut my grass...this is really the first time that the war has come home to me.  Why, I knew that boy well....  I knew him well."

The Newark Post recently published an article I wrote in tribute to Douglas Alley.  A few days later, I received a call from an old neighbor of the Alley family.  She had attended Douglas'  wedding and funeral.  She remembered him as a quiet and responsible boy - in her opinion the nicest of the Alley boys.  I got to know Douglas a little better through this gracious woman's memories of a young man killed many years ago.

122 Delawareans are included in the over 58,000 names inscribed on the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial.  Many of us have no direct connection to these brave men and women.  As the years go by our connection to these lost souls becomes even more distant.  Many of the fallen have no direct descendants to keep their memory alive.  We must not let them be forgotten.  That is what Memorial Day is about - remembrance and honor.   In my own small way, I have come to know Douglas Alley.   This Memorial Day, he will be in my thoughts.  Just one of the many young soldiers who have fought and died for our country... who will cut the grass no more.

Tom Casti  *
407 Douglas D. Alley Drive
Newark, DE 19713
tcasti@wlgore.com

*Tom Casti  lives in the Woods of Yorkshire development in Newark, and he is working with neighbors and the City of Newark to place a memorial to Douglas D.  Alley in the park on the street named in his memory.