Credited on the record as Dr. Paul Tassell.
Memorial Service for 2nd Lt. Larry Bleeker
1967 · Not On Label · USA
- Artist
- 2nd Lt. Larry Bleeker
- Credited on the record as
- Dr. Paul Tassell
- Title
- Memorial Service for 2nd Lt. Larry Bleeker
- Release
- I Found the Answer
- Year
- 1967
- Label
- Not On Label
- Format
- LP · Album
- Language
- English
- Country
- USA
- Genre
- Spoken Word · Field Recordings
- Primary theme
- US 'Patriotic' / Pro-Government / Anti-Protest Songs
Annotation — US Military & Veteran Songs
There is no label, number, location, or date - it was probably released in 1968, the year of his memorial service, in Ames, Iowa. It featured spoken-word and church music. Larry Bleeker was killed in action, in Quảng Trị province on 26 October 1967, after only six weeks of duty.12 Only two track titles, the a-side "A Small Excerpt From the Life of 2nd Lt. Larry Bleeker, a Young Man Who Found the Answer", and the b-side, "Memorial Service for 2nd Lt. Larry Bleeker". The a-side consists of two "homemade" recordings, the first by Bleeker in the US speaking about religion, he then sings a song which references Vietnam, and talks about heading out to war. The second recording Bleeker made in Vietnam, addressed to his parents, describing his experiences in Saigon etc. The b-side is a recording from his family's church memorial service. The minister comments on Vietnam, criticising the anti-war movement.Sources1Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund: LARRY D BLEEKER↩2The Virtual Wall: Larry Dean Bleeker↩
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Notes
Private LP with plain white labels, 33 1/3 RPM, both headed "Lt. Larry Bleeker / "I Found the Answer""; Side 1 reads "A Small Excerpt From the Life of 2nd Lt. Larry Bleeker, a Young Man Who Found the Answer" and Side 2 "Memorial Service for 2nd Lt. Larry Bleeker". The front cover carries a studio portrait of Bleeker in Marine Corps dress uniform, signed "2nd Lt. Larry Bleeker". A typed insert headed "2nd Lt. Larry Bleeker Testimonial Record" offers the record at $4.00 each c/o Walter Sutherland, 301 N. Franklin, Ames, Iowa 50010, and lists Side 1 as "2nd Lt. Bleeker testimony: University Freshman, University Senior, After Commissioned, From combat zone - Viet Nam" and Side 2 as "Memorial Service, Dr. Paul Tassell". The insert reprints an Ames Daily Tribune clipping dated 10-30-67, "Ames Marine was killed in Vietnam", reporting that Marine Corps Second Lt. Larry Bleeker, 24, son of Mr.…
About the artist
Subject of memorial recordings rather than a performing artist: 2nd Lt. Larry Dean Bleeker, USMC (21 June 1943 - 26 October 1967), of Ames, Iowa; platoon commander with Company E, 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines, killed in action near Gio Linh, Quang Tri Province, Vietnam; buried Ames Municipal Cemetery. The records preserve his memorial service and excerpts of his own recorded messages. [Source: Find a Grave / VVMF Wall of Faces / Iowa State Daily]
Themes
From the release I Found the Answer
In collections
US 'Patriotic' / Pro-Government / Anti-Protest Songs [War Years] · US Military & Veteran Songs