Marblehead woman to pay tribute to late dad on Father’s Day

LYNN – Before Lynn Dynice traveled to Washington, D.C. on Father’s Day in 2005, she had never met anyone else whose father was killed in the Vietnam War.Through the organization Sons and Daughters In Touch, the Marblehead resident was not only able to see her father’s name, Capt. Paul McNally, on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, but she was also able to connect with others who had shared the same grief.”Memorial Day is to remember all men and women who are killed; Father’s Day is more to remember our fathers in particular,” said Dynice. “We all grew up without our fathers being there and we want to preserve their legacy.”Sunday, Dynice will return to the wall, this time with her daughter, for another Father’s Day wearing her Gold Star pin, a gold star on a purple background that represents the loss of a parent in the war. She will join 1,000 people – 500 members of SDIT and their families – in a rose ceremony and another ceremony in which those participants will wash the face of the Memorial wall.”It’s an honor to do,” said Dynice. “The wall is a black granite cut into the ground. When you look into the wall, you can see your reflection and it’s very emotional. But it loses its reflective quality when it’s dirty.”While in Washington, Dynice will also take time to visit her father’s grave in Arlington National Cemetery. Capt. McNally was a Marine helicopter pilot who died June 6, 1965 when his helicopter collided with another during a pre-dawn search and rescue operation. Dynice was only 4 years old.”Father’s Day was always different for me,” Dynice said. “I think it’s great to be able to do this, to preserve his honor and legacy.”According to Dynice, there were 58,000 men lost in the Vietnam War, leaving 20,000 children without fathers. However, there are only 3,000 people in the country involved in the Sons and Daughters In Touch. Even after she attended her first Father’s Day event in Washington, D.C. Dynice did not meet another grieving son or daughter who lived in the North Shore area. She said she suspects because it was such an unpopular war, many were taught in the past to not talk about it. Now Sons and Daughters is trying to break the silence.”There’s a whole new generation of Sons and Daughters. We want them to feel like there’s someone they can go to. We didn’t have that back then,” she said. “We want to get it out there that there are places for them and people to support them. We can share the experience of what it’s like to grow up without a father.”Some members of SDIT have even contacted veterans who were friends of their fathers to hear stories about them. In the past, SDIT organized a trip to Vietnam so members could travel to the place of their father’s death to pay tribute.This year at the Father’s Day ceremony, service members will speak and people will place tokens, pictures and flowers along the base of the wall. At the end of the weekend, the items left at the wall will be put into a large warehouse, where they will be held until an underground educational center is built to house the memories and reminders of those who gave their lives.Lynn Dynice will be there, placing her own mementos beneath her father’s name. “I anticipate to support and connect with others while we honor our fathers and pay tribute to the fact that they gave the ultimate sacrifice for all of us, for freedom.”