Waynesville High School graduate Paul Hardman served from 1968 to 1971 in the U.S. Navy.
Paul Hardman, late husband of Luge Hardman, Waynesville, is being inducted into the In Memory Program for Vietnam veterans who died after returning home.
Luge Hardman, Waynesville, is going on a special trip June 13-15 to Washington, D.C. for the In Memory Program induction ceremony honoring her late husband, Paul X. Hardman, who served from 1968 to 1971 in the U.S. Navy, plus 15 others from Missouri, and hundreds of other Vietnam veterans who died after returning home.
The ceremony is through Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund (VVMF), the nonprofit organization that founded the Vietnam Veterans Memorial (The Wall) in Washington, D.C. in 1982.
Luge said her husband, Paul, a Waynesville High School graduate, was born March 23, 1950, and died June 1, 2016, of kidney failure.
Their daughter, Ryann Hardman, Denver, will accompany her mother for the ceremony.
At a young age, Paul moved to Waynesville with his teacher parents.
He entered the United States Navy after graduating from Waynesville High School in 1968 and served as a Seabee in Vietnam. Luge said he was always proud of his military service. Returning home in 1971, Paul began a career in HVAC with Shivers Refrigeration.
On a blind date, arranged by his sister, Paul met a young Waynesville teacher in 1972. On June 15, 1974, Paul married Lula Mae “Luge” Pate at the St. Robert Bellarmine Catholic Church.
The couple had two children, daughter Ryann Shea, and son Paul Xavior Hardman III, “Trey,” and seven grandchildren.
Luge said Paul was a hard worker and a “jack of all trades,” working in HVAC with Shivers Refrigeration and later joining the United States Postal Service as a postal clerk where he retired in 2003.
Paul and Luge enjoyed traveling, dancing, gaming with friends and baseball. They were avid St. Louis Cardinal fans and were short of fulfilling a “bucket list” wish to visit all Major League ballparks.
Ceremony in Alexandria
More than 770 Vietnam veterans, including 16 from Missouri, will be inducted into the VVMF In Memory Program in 2025. VVMF believes all those who served in the Vietnam War should be honored and remembered for their service. The program enables the families and friends of those who came home and later died the opportunity to have them be forever memorialized.
Daniel R. Osmon, Jerome, U.S. Army, also will be inducted.
For the first time in nearly 30 years, VVMF’s In Memory Ceremony is being relocated away from its traditional spot, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., due to the military parade that will now take place the same day, June 14. To ease logistical and crowding restraints, as well as preserve the overall solemnity of the event, VVMF elected to move the In Memory ceremony to the picturesque grounds of the George Washington Masonic National Memorial in Alexandria, where each 2025 honoree’s name will be read aloud. This year, 774 veterans will be honored during the ceremony.
“For many Vietnam veterans, coming home from Vietnam was just the beginning of a whole new fight. Many never fully recovered, either physically or emotionally, from their experiences. As these veterans pass, it is our duty and solemn promise to welcome them home to the place that our nation has set aside to remember our Vietnam veterans,” said Jim Knotts, president and CEO of VVMF.
The plaque that honors these veterans was dedicated as a part of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial
site in 2004. It reads: In Memory of the men and women who served in the Vietnam War and later died as a result of their service. We honor and remember their sacrifice.
Personal remembrance
VVMF has created a personal remembrance page for each honoree online in the In Memory Honor Roll at www.vvmf.org/honor-roll. Their photos will also be displayed around the country when VVMF’s mobile exhibit, The Wall That Heals, is on display in an honoree’s home state. To view the 2025 tour schedule for The Wall That Heals, visit https://www.vvmf.org/The-Wall-That-Heals/.
The 2025 In Memory ceremony will be shown live on VVMF’s Facebook page
(https://www.facebook.com/VietnamVeteransMemorialFund) and on VVMF’s website
(www.vvmf.org/live) beginning at 10 a.m. ET on June 14, 2025. The recorded video of the In Memory ceremony will be made available shortly after the conclusion of the ceremony. The In Memory program was created in 1993 and has since honored more than 7,200 veterans. For more information on the In Memory program or to apply to have your loved one honored in 2026, visit: www.vvmf.org/inmemory.
About the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund (VVMF) is the nonprofit organization that founded the Vietnam Veterans Memorial (The Wall) in Washington, D.C. in 1982. VVMF continues to lead the way in paying tribute to our nation’s Vietnam veterans and their families. VVMF’s mission is to honor and preserve the legacy of service in America and educate all generations about the impact of the Vietnam War and era. To learn more about VVMF, visit www.vvmf.org or call 202-393-0090.
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