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November 6, 2009

Topsfield to honor Vietnam casualty

By Jennesa Regios

TOPSFIELD — First Lt. John "Jack" David Lawson's brothers and sister remember the day his body was returned home in 1970.

The fighter pilot was shot down in the Vietnam War just weeks before his tour of duty was to end, and his wingman and best friend in the Marines accompanied his body back to Topsfield to explain Lawson's death to his family.

On Sept. 1, an American platoon was under heavy fire and called for support. Lawson heard the call on the radio and volunteered to back them up, according to his sister, Lyn Cunningham. On his way back to the base in Phu Bai after completing a run, Lawson and his navigator were shot down over Thua Thien Province of South Vietnam. Both were killed. They were missing in action for nearly three months before the wreckage was found. Lawson was 26.

Cunningham had received a letter from her younger brother while he was in Vietnam.

"He felt that it was something that needed to be done" said Cunningham, who now lives in Peachtree City, Ga. "He didn't regret being there."

Cunningham and her two surviving brothers, George "Durk" and Steve Lawson, remember their brother as a good guy, a funny guy and a bit of a prankster.

Tomorrow, Topsfield will honor Jack Lawson, the only town resident killed in the Vietnam War. A new memorial stone bearing his name will be dedicated at the Veterans Memorial Green after a parade through the downtown at 11 a.m.

The Topsfield Main Street Foundation, working with the Veterans' Association, the Historical Society, and the Park and Cemetery Department, recently built the Memorial Green as a place where veterans of all wars could be honored.

There will also be a special tribute to the relocated World War II Memorial and to veteran Matthew Boyle, who recently died of cancer. Boyle, a Marine Corps veteran of the Korean War, was a major contributor to the project.

The Lawson family moved to Topsfield from Pennsylvania when Jack was in the eighth grade. He graduated from Masconomet Regional High School in 1962, where he played basketball and football.

After high school, Jack went to Lehigh University in Pennsylvania for a year before transferring to Boston University, but after finding that college wasn't the right fit for him, he dropped out and joined the Marines.

It was here that he excelled. He was in the top of his class at Officer Candidate School in Quantico, Va., and his good grades enabled him to pursue fighter pilot training at Reese Air Force Base in Lubbock, Texas. After completing the 11âÑ2-year-long program, he was stationed in California for a year before leaving for Vietnam on Oct. 16, 1969.

Durk Lawson shared a room with his brother, just two years younger than him. Jack Lawson drove taxis in Boston and had a motorcycle.

"None of which my parents knew about," joked Durk, who now lives in Uxbridge.

Cunningham remembers Jack's playful side, how he used to remove his false front tooth and smoke a cigarette through it.

"He would walk around with a big stupid grin on his face," Cunningham said. "Of course, this was the '60s, so smoking was typical."

For Steve Lawson, who now lives in Corvallis, Ore., Jack was the big brother little boys dream of. While Jack was living in Boston, he would frequently drive his Vespa scooter up to Topsfield to pick up his little brother, who is seven years younger, and take him to Cambridge or Boston.

Steve Lawson's first trip away from home was to visit his brother in Texas, and Jack even introduced him to music — jazz, which Jack was very passionate about.

The Lawsons' memory of the day their brother's body arrived in Topsfield is a little fuzzy. It was almost 40 years ago, and it was a very traumatic time for the family, particularly their parents, George and Geraldine. Though they don't remember the name of their brother's wingman, they do remember how he stayed with the family for a few days.

"Everyone says this about someone who's died, but Jack truly was a unique, warm, great guy with a top intellect," Steve Lawson said.

While at college, Jack had said, in earnest, that he aspired to be president of the United States one day.

And Steve Lawson believes he could have done it.

If you go

What: Veterans Memorial Green dedication and Veterans Day parade

Where: Veterans Memorial Green, South Common Street, Topsfield

When: Parade begins at 11 a.m. at St. Rose's Catholic Church, 12 Park St.

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