Nealon Vietnam Memorial
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.
Read More
Read More From Nancy
Emily the Cow
In Sherborn, this memorial stands for a cow whose life became a symbol of compassion in our time. Emily’s story belongs to the late twentieth century. After escaping from a slaughterhouse in 1995, she was taken in by the Peace Abbey, a sanctuary devoted to nonviolence, humanitarian causes and animal welfare. There she lived out the remainder of […]
First Parish Church
In the center of Sherborn stands the First Parish in Sherborn, the town’s original church, whose history reaches back to 1685. Just eleven years after Sherborn was incorporated in 1674, the parish formally gathered, establishing the religious and civic heart of the young community. In colonial Massachusetts, a “parish” was more than a congregation. It was […]
Conscientious Objectors Memorial
Among the many memorials that stand throughout New England, few are as unique as this one. Rather than honoring soldiers, political leaders, or pioneers, this monument remembers men and women whose lives were devoted to a different calling, the pursuit of peace. Its inscription reads: “May honor be bestowed on these conscientious objectors who walked […]
