Nealon Vietnam Memorial – Sherborn

Driving through the roads of Sherborn, I came across something unexpected. At a busy rural intersection, far from the town center, a stone monument caught my attention. It is easy to drive past without noticing, yet the bronze plaque tells a personal story.

The top of the plaque reads:

“In Memory
John Michael Nealon
Born March 22, 1945 in Sherborn
Died December 24, 1967 in Vietnam”

This monument honors a young man from this small town who lost his life while serving in the Vietnam War.

Unlike many war memorials that stand prominently on town commons, this one sits quietly beside the road on land that was once part of the Dowse family property. The location is not accidental. Nealon had worked many summers at Dowse’s Orchard, a local farm just across the road. Placing the monument here connects the memory of his life with the landscape of his everyday experience growing up in Sherborn.

Lance Corporal Nealon is also recorded on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C., but this small monument in Sherborn offers an intimate reminder of one individual whose life began in this quiet New England town.