By Cody Berry 

Last Friday I had the honor of participating in the Saline County Library’s Veterans Day Appreciation event at the Bryant branch. I brought over a small exhibit called “Hometown Heroes.”  A couple of the artifacts in that exhibit were copies of a political cartoon by former Saline Courier cartoonist Ron Meyer about the Vietnam War. The artwork depicts a skeleton reading names of young men from here who had died in the war. In front of the skeleton are makeshift grave markers for each man. 

One of the names listed in that artwork is Cairo Fuller, the only resident of Benton’s Ralph Bunche Community to die in the Vietnam War. Fuller was born March 5, 1947. He was killed in Binh Dinh province, Vietnam, on April 9, 1967, when he was 20 years old.¹ Years ago, I had heard that there was some talk about renaming Dixie Street in the Ralph Bunche Community after Corporal Fuller. Because the change hadn’t happened yet, I assumed this movement had ended but I was wrong. 

Yesterday I read in the Saline Courier that members of that community are still working hard to honor Corporal Fuller. The article said that Cairo Fuller was 19 in 1966 when he was sent to Vietnam. Fuller was killed by friendly fire. Fuller’s family lived on Dixie Street, where his brother Carl still lives today. In 2016, petitioners reached the stage of city council approval, but the council voted it down at that time.² 

Will the name be changed? Well, according to the article, the Benton Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on the petition on January 7, 2025.³ So, we will have to wait and see what happens. Cairo Fuller was one of several young men from here to lose their lives in Vietnam. At the event last week, I had a uniform jacket that belonged to PFC Jerry Cantrell, who was killed over there in 1969. Ron Meyer’s artwork listed Cairo Fuller, Paul Jackson, Morris Cash, Dennis Robbins, Thomas Hoover, John Harding, and Gregory Reeves, all presumably from Saline County.⁴ May their sacrifices never be forgotten.  

Citations:

¹ Ron Meyer Artwork, “Cairo Fuller,” The Wall of Faces, Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, https://www.vvmf.org/Wall-of-Faces/17411/CARIO-FULLER/page/2/, Date Accessed 11/13/2024. 

² Destin Davis, “Renaming Dixie Street to honor Cpl. C.J. Fuller, a long time coming,” The Saline Courier, November 12, 2024, https://www.bentoncourier.com/news/renaming-dixie-street-to-honor-cpl-c-j-fuller-a-long-time-coming/article_01c8b840-a105-11ef-bbc0-a73f8eeb0a0c.html, Date Accessed 11/13/2024. 

³ Destin Davis, “Renaming Dixie Street to honor Cpl. C.J. Fuller, a long time coming,” The Saline Courier, November 12, 2024, https://www.bentoncourier.com/news/renaming-dixie-street-to-honor-cpl-c-j-fuller-a-long-time-coming/article_01c8b840-a105-11ef-bbc0-a73f8eeb0a0c.html, Date Accessed 11/13/2024. 

⁴ “Jerry Dale Cantrell,” The Virtual Wall, Vietnam Veterans Memorial, https://www.virtualwall.org/dc/CantrellJD01a.htm, Date Accessed 11/13/2024, Ron Meyer Artwork.