Note: These profiles were originally written for the Walpole Times newspaper in the early 2000s when the town’s Veteran’s Coffee group visited the traveling Vietnam Memorial Wall in Canton to remember four servicemen from Walpole killed in the war. It was an honor for me to work with family members and town officials to create these remembrances.
They were four individuals, each with different talents, interests and dreams—and yet there is an undeniable sameness to their stories.
Richard Drake was a star athlete and student at Walpole High School who hoped to be a teacher and dreamed of playing for a championship sports team.
Dorchester transplant Brian Collins only lived in Walpole for a short time, but nevertheless made a lasting impression on his classmates before graduating.
An “officer and a gentleman,” Paul Fitzgibbons was a nature enthusiast who planned to work as a parks conservation officer, though he knew his first stop after high school would likely be basic training at Fort Dix or Parris Island.
A fun-loving and easy-going student, Nicholas Conaxis had made the best of a difficult early life and was planning to attend college.
All four men graduated from Walpole High School within a few years of each other in the mid-1960s.
All four went on to serve in the military.
And all four met untimely deaths on the battlefields of Vietnam within a nine-month span in 1968.
The following profiles were created with biographical materials from archived issues of the Walpole Times, as well as remembrances by family members and information found in WHS yearbooks from the 1960s.
Richard “Charlie” Drake, Jr.
Walpole’s Sports Star
It is difficult to find a page in the WHS Class of ’66 yearbook that doesn’t feature at least one picture of Richard “Charlie” Drake, who enlisted in the Marine Corps in May of 1967.
Drake, who lived at 322 Common Street, was known to friends, family members and his classmates as “Charlie,” a nickname that was given to him by his father.
A naturally-gifted athlete, Drake played football at WHS for three years, and was an all-scholastic choice as a defensive end in his senior year. He also played wide receiver, and he and quarterback Brad Brooks became the heroes of many games by connecting long touchdown passes.
But Drake was perhaps best known in Walpole for his skills on the basketball court.
He played on the WHS hoops team for three years and was captain and the team’s highest scorer during his senior year. A tall boy, he was tough to defend underneath the basket.
Drake’s greatest honor at Walpole High School came during his junior year, when he won the John Turco Memorial Award.
Usually awarded to a senior student, the award was given to Drake to recognize him as the best student-athlete in the school.
In addition to his sports prowess, Drake was also active in many other areas of the school. He was the class treasurer, a student council rep, a homeroom rep and the sports editor of the yearbook. In his senior year, he played Dr. Pitt in the drama club’s production of “Goodbye My Fancy.”
Thus it was a tremendous blow to the community when the news came of his death during action in Quang Nam on Jan. 30, 1968.
In a Times article following Drake’s death, WHS athletic director James Burke remembers him as one of the best athletes the school ever had.
“He gave it everything at all times and hated loafers. He was a born leader and always had that quality that put him out front. No doubt when he gave his life for his country, he was again leading his Marine unit.”
Nicholas S. Conaxis
“Nick the Greek”
With his upbeat, easygoing personality, U.S. Army Private Nicholas Conaxis had such a powerful effect on those he met during his short life that their memories of him are still strong 37 years after his death.
The second serviceman from Walpole to die in the war, Conaxis was killed in action in South Vietnam on May 5, 1968.
Originally from the Peabody area, Conaxis experienced hardship early on in life when his father died and his mother had a subsequent breakdown. The family was split up after that, with Nick and his brother sent to one foster home and his sister to another.
Conaxis eventually came to stay at Longview Farm in Walpole, and graduated from Walpole High School with the class of ’65.
It was an instructor at Longview Farm – William Bechler – who helped Nicholas turn his life in a positive direction, Conanxis’ sister Stacia Xerras said in an interview last week.
At WHS, Conaxis was a class representative for four years and also served on the student council. He played basketball and football and was a member of the chefs’ club. He also served as treasurer of his homeroom class.
In his yearbook blurb, Conaxis lists his nickname as “Nick the Greek,” and says that his goals are to have fun and go to college. His pet peeves? “Work and dull people.”
While Xerras didn’t see much of her brother while he was growing up, he did come to live with her for a time after she got married, she said.
She described him as a fun-loving boy with a great personality and a tremendous amount of energy.
One of his personality quirks was that he was meticulous about grooming and personal hygiene, she said. He always carried a toothbrush with him.
Stacia can see some of Conaxis’ infectious energy in her son, Greg, and in her first grandson, Nicholas, who is named after him.
Her brother’s memory also lives on in the pictures in her house, and in a memorial to Vietnam Veterans in Peabody, she said.
Paul Fitzgibbons
‘An Officer and a Gentleman’
While still reeling from the death of Conaxis, Walpole lost a third soldier a week later, when Army Lieutenant Paul Fitzgibbons was killed in the Mekong Delta on May 13.
Fitzgibbons, 21, was born in Walpole and had graduated from WHS with the class of 1965. His father, James Fitzgibbons, was Veterans’ Agent for the town of Walpole.
In a written remembrance submitted to the Times, Jim Fitzgibbons of Sharon describes his brother as the true definition of an officer and a gentleman.”
“Though his accomplishments were many, he never patted himself on the back.”
The happiest times of his brother’s short life were those spent at Walpole High School, Jim writes. I don’t think he ever missed a day of school, because of the many friends, teachers, sports and activities he so much enjoyed.”
At Walpole High, Paul played baseball for four years and football for two. He was co-editor of the yearbook his senior year and his yearbook blurb indicates he was a fan of the Kingston Trio.
After graduating from WHS in 1965, Fitzgibbons attended the University of Georgia for a year and spend the following summer working at the Olympic National Park in Washington state as part of the U.S. Forestry Service–fulfilling a lifelong dream to work closely with nature.
Fitzgibbons arrived in Vietnam in March of 1968, where he served with the 9th Infantry. He was killed in action three months later.
The night before he left for that final journey to Vietnam, Paul and Jim had a long conversation. When Jim asked why he had to serve, Paul responded, “Because it’s my duty.”
“Those words will always be with me,” Jim writes.
The next day, while he was driving Paul to the airport, Jim noticed that the sun didn’t seem as bright, the early signs of spring seemed to be missing, and he could feel an ominous chill in the air.
The end came shortly thereafter in the swamp and the jungle of the Mekong Delta.
“Months later, Paul’s platoon sergeant, who was at his side on that fateful day, unexpectedly visited my parents to offer his condolences in person and to put to rest any questions they might have.
“To me what greater testament of respect, personal feeling and admiration could there be, than that shown by this wonderful soldier.
“I like to think that Paul left a legacy for all those who wore the uniform at any time, anywhere, and who knowingly or otherwise, served and did what they had to do because ‘it’s my duty.'”
Brian Collins
The popular newcomer
The fourth man from Walpole to be killed during combat in Vietnam was 19-year-old Brian Collins.
Collins died in a hospital in Japan on Sept. 12 from wounds he received in an ammunition explosion during combat action in Vietnam.
Collins, the son of Timothy Jr. and Alice Collins of Walpole, was part of a large family that moved to Walpole from Dorchester in 1966.
Like Drake and Fitzgibbons before him, Collins had played football, baseball and basketball at Walpole High School, graduating with the class of 1967. He was also a member of the American Legion Post 104 baseball team.
Collins enlisted in the Marines in December of 1967 and saw action in Cam Lo, Dong Ha and Camp Carroll in the Quang Tri Province prior to his death.
He was survived by two sisters and eight brothers, two of whom—John and Steven—were also serving in the armed forces at the time of his death.
Steven Collins, a Marine corporal, was assigned to escort his brother’s body back home. The eight Collins brothers served as honorary pall bearers at Brian’s funeral, which was held in the Blessed Sacrament Church.
Collins’ yearbook blurb is brief and does not reveal much about his future aspirations, though he does say he hopes to be “a success in whatever I do.”
It is also telling that the Class Will (a document indicating what each senior will leave as his or her legacy) says that Collins will leave as the school’s most popular newcomer.
Brian Burns 