Second Vice Commander and Chairman Adelbert Jenner, right,
assists Commander Bill O'Hara in digging a new hole for the posts
lining Robert Stryker's grave at Pine Hill Cemetary in Throop. The
original headstone, in white, was moved forward to make room for the
new granite monument. which was made in Vermont.
Front of Monument
Back of Monument
Monument and Bench
Illustration - Interim Armored Vehicle the
"Stryker"
The Stryker in 2004 Memorial Day Parade - Auburn,
NY
Article - The Citizen (Thursday, May 27, 2004)
Honoring a hero
By Mary Bulkot
Robert F. Stryker's final resting place now looks like it belongs
to a hero.
For years, local veterans groups have been raising money for the
creation of a monument to honor Stryker. The results can now be seen
at Pine Hill Cemetery in Throop, where the dedication of the Robert
F. Stryker Memorial is planned for Sunday.
Stryker, who grew up in Throop, dropped out of Port Byron High
School in his senior year to join the army. He went on to become a
Vietnam War hero and was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor -
the nation's highest military decoration - for "conspicuous gallantry
and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond
the call of duty."
In 2002, the Army formally named its new Interim Armored Vehicle
the "Stryker."
The vehicle was named in honor of Throop's Bobby Stryker as well
as for an earlier Medal of Honor winner from World War II, also named
Stryker.
A Stryker vehicle will be in town over the weekend to help
celebrate Memorial Day weekend.
It will be driven in three Memorial Day parades Monday. But its
most special trip will be out to Pine Hill Cemetery for the memorial
dedication.
For Rick Spriggs, the Stryker memorial is "a big realization of a
golden goal for me since 1999."
Upset that Stryker's gravesite at Pine Hill Cemetery in Throop
was unmarked and overgrown, Spriggs started to coordinate
fund-raising efforts for a memorial.
Spriggs is a member of AmVets Post 513 of Montezuma, which
renamed its post after Stryker in a special ceremony last fall. Post
513 and Cayuga County Vietnam Veterans Chapter 704 are sponsoring the
monument.
Their goal is to make it an official, permanent, historical
site.
"It's even more than I imagined," said Rick Spriggs, who was at
the cemetery Tuesday afternoon, helping to set up the memorial.
"You stand there and wait for him to step off the stone."
The granite monument, which Spriggs helped design, has an almost
life-size, full-length likeness of Stryker in his Class A uniform on
the front.
On the back side is the complete citation and a picture of
Stryker Infantry Assault Vehicle.
Mid-Lakes Memorial Company oversaw the monument's construction,
and it was crafted in Vermont.
Two flagpoles have also been installed at the site, and Spriggs
has contacted NYSEG to ask if it's possible to run a power line to
the cemetery so the American flag can fly continuously. Specialist
Stryker was awarded the Medal of Honor for actions while serving with
the 26th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division in November 1967 in Vietnam.
Stryker, 23, threw himself on a Claymore mine, absorbing a blast that
would have killed six fellow soldiers.
The Medal of Honor, created during the Civil War, is the oldest
and highest decoration awarded by the United States Government. Since
1861, there have been 3,459 recipients, 243 from the Vietnam
War.
According to Sprigg's research, Stryker is the only native-born
medal of honor winner in Cayuga County since the Boxer
Rebellion.
The Stryker vehicle is described by the army as "a highly
deployable wheeled armored vehicle that combines firepower,
battlefield mobility, survivability and versatility."
The 19-ton Stryker is designed to carry a nine-man infantry squad
along with a crew of two.
It is equipped with a remote weapon station with an M2
.50-caliber machine gun or MK19, 40 mm grenade launcher.
The vehicle was named in honor of Robert Stryker, as well as for
an earlier Medal of Honor winner, Private First Class Stuart Stryker,
who died March 24, 1945, leading an attack near Wesel, Germany.
Stuart Stryker's unit ended up capturing 200 Nazi soldiers and
freeing three American pilots.
Manufactured by General Dynamics and General Motors, the Stryker
can be deployed by C-130 aircraft and be combat-capable upon arrival
at any battle site.
The vehicles are significant to the U.S. Army of the 21st century
as the first example of the Army's transformation to a lighter,
lethal, more fuel-efficient fighting force.
The vehicle will be driven from Auburn's Armory, where it is
being parked, to Throop Sunday afternoon for the dedication.
Afterwards, it will be driven to Montezuma for the reception at the
AmVets Post 513.
Tony Berrigan, who served with Stryker in Vietnam and helped load
his body onto the chopper to send home, will be a special guest
speaker at the dedication.
Stryker's cousin, St. Alphonsus' the Rev. Louis Vasile, will give
the invocation and benediction.
Article - The Post-Standard (Monday, May 31, 2004)
Monument honors hero
By Beth Beer Cuddy
Robert F. Stryker exercised the only option available to him on
Nov. 7, 1967, when he covered a Claymore mine with his body to save
the lives of at least six soldiers near Loc Ninh, South Vietnam.
"There was no weighing of the pros and cons," said Thomas P.
Galvin, a member of the Army's 1st Infantry Division in Vietnam.
"There was no searching for viable alternatives. There was no calling
for assistance, help or intervention. There no committees, no opinion
polls, no consensus. He saw. He knew. He acted."
Galvin was one of a half-dozen speakers to honor Stryker at a
monument dedication ceremony Sunday at Pine Hill Cemetery in Throop,
where Stryker is buried. More than 150 family members, friends,
service members and residents encircled the grave site.
The Stryker, the Army's light infantry assault vehicle named for
Stryker and another soldier bearing the same name, was a few feet
away from Stryker's small white tombstone.
A 5-foot granite, colorized monument stood behind the tombstone,
bearing Stryker's name and likeness.
The monument is the culmination of efforts by Robert Stryker
Memorial Amvets Post 513 and Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 704
to gain more recognition for the Throop resident who earned the Medal
of Honor.
Auburn resident Rick Spriggs, project coordinator, was
responsible for reviewing, verifying and validating awards during his
second tour in Vietnam. In 1968, he wrote the citation for the Medal
of Honor awarded to Stryker, 22.
Spriggs, who was from Oswego County, wrote home about the Cayuga
County resident. His connection to Stryker cropped up again when
Spriggs moved to Auburn in 1998. His daughter became friends with
Stryker's grandniece, leading to the two families meeting.
"I had to come out to the cemetery three times to try to find his
grave," Spriggs said. "I said I think we ought to be able to do
better than that for a Medal of Honor winner."
He joined efforts with Amvets Post 513 when the newly organized
Montezuma group decided to take Stryker's name.
Spriggs said the organizations were looking to raise $30,000.
They plan to put flagpoles on each side of the stone.
"We're almost there," Spriggs said. "We're not quite through."
Future donations will be used for the upkeep and maintenance of
the monument, which was manufactured by Mid-Lakes Memorials in
Auburn.
Amvets Post 513 Commander William O'Hara said the monument was
long overdue.
"I call him our forgotten hero," O'Hara said. He promised to
uphold the integrity of the site.
Stryker was born in Auburn and moved to Throop, where he attended
Port Byron schools. He dropped out in his senior year to join the
Army. Cayuga County Legislator Raymond Lockwood, R-Aurelius, a former
classmate of Stryker's, said he was speechless when the monument was
unveiled.
"Last time I seen Bobby, he looked just like that," Lockwood
said.
