Members of Jack Lloyd Silliman’s family gathered in Carlsbad on Tuesday, July 17, 2012, for a very special reunion.
Silliman, who graduated from Carlsbad High School in 1966, was killed in Vietnam on June 3, 1969. His family gathered in Carlsbad this week to visit a memorial honoring him.
Silliman’s brother, Bobby Lee Silliman, read a speech Jack Lloyd wrote when he was 12-years-old and the family lived in a small town in Colorado. The speech, attached below, was in response to President Kennedy’s “Ask what you can do for your country,” speech and was selected as the best student speech in Colorado. Jack flew to Washington D.C. and met with the President. His speech was read before the House of Representatives.
Recently, and aided by Congressmen, family members searched for the speech. It was ultimately located in the Kennedy library. On March 22, 2012, Congressman Randy Hultgren finally read Jack’s childhood speech into the Congressional Record.
Focus on Carlsbad would like to welcome the Silliman family to town, and thank them all for Jack Lloyd Silliman’s heroic sacrifice in the line of duty.
