Historical marker will honor 9 ‘Holley Boys’ killed in Vietnam War

Provided photo

HOLLEY – Melissa Ierlan, Clarendon town historian, stands next to a new historical marker that will go in front of the former Holley High School in the spring.

The marker notes the ultimate sacrifice of nine young men from Holley who were killed during the Vietnam War: John P. Davis, David D. Case, Ronnie P. Sisson, David P. States, Howard Bowen, Gary E. Bullock, Gary L. Stymus, George W. Fischer Jr. and Paul S. Mandracchia. Holley had one of the highest per capita casualty rates in the country during the Vietnam War.

The marker is planned to be dedicated in front of the school on Memorial Day in 2024. The young men attended school there. The building is now used for apartments and also the Village of Holley offices.

Home Leasing, owner of the property, agreed to allow the sign be installed in the front yard of the building, Ierlan said.

Funding from the Elizabeth Dye Curtis Foundation, Clarendon Historical Society and Murray-Holley Historical Society.

Nicholas D’Amura, a middle/high school history teacher at Holley, and his students helped with the wording on the sign.

“This marker is to commemorate the nine young men who lost their lives in service to their country during the conflict in Vietnam. The ‘Holley Boys’ attended classes here at the high school in the heart of the village before war called them to adulthood. They grew up with stories of their fathers from battlefields past, and each of them served with distinction when the great battle of their age arrived.

“Holley sent her finest when called.”

The marker ends with a quote from Abraham Lincoln: “I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom.”