OT --- My annual Memorial Day remembrances --- OT

The Memorial Day holiday is a time for family fun and relaxation and a free day from work. However, the true concept of Memorial Day seems to be lost on many these days. To those who have seen the elephant, to those whose friends, or loved ones have been killed in the service of our country, however, the original meaning of Memorial Day still burns deep in our chest. As Memorial Day 2005 approaches, I am posting my annual personal remembrance of my comrades. To my fellow modelers who have seen this in previous years, I apologize for the redundancy. To those who will invariably complain about yet another off-topic post, stop reading here because what follows definitely has nothing to do with scale modeling.

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I remember PFC Arthur Willie Green (14-E-56), KIA 20 Jan 67. Our recon team was on a hilltop, calling in an artillery mission on a Battalion of NVA moving through the valley below. A "short round" from the Marine artillery battery at An Hoa landed right inside the team perimeter. Willie was standing, looking through the binoculars into the valley at the time and was split from sternum to pelvis; killed instantly by the exploding 105mm round. Our entire team was wounded.

Lt Eric Barnes (17-E-41) and SSgt Godfried Blankenship (17-E-48) were both hit within minutes of each other on 26 Mar 67. Barnes, leading a recon patrol that came upon a group of thatched hooch's, moved forward to check them out. As he approached, he was hit by intense automatic weapons fire from the NVA occupants. SSgt Blankenship, the Platoon Sgt, moved forward to Lt Barnes' side and was also hit. Both bled profusely and finally bled to death on the chopper enroute 1st Med BN in Danang.

I remember PFC Michael Ray Smith (19-E-113). Mike and I went to Recon School together several months earlier. He was on patrol with another team on 13 May 67 moving in low brush on the side of some worthless little hill in the Hiep Duc Valley. A Company of NVA ambushed the team and Mike took two AK-47 rounds in the back and one in the chest. He died in the dirt waiting for the dust-off.

I can still see PFC Erwin Lovell (19-E-120) when I close my eyes. He'd been badly burned in a fire as a child and bore terrible scars over his entire upper body. He went through Marine Recon School with Mike Smith and me. Late on one of those insufferably hot and dark Vietnam nights outside Chu Lai he heard the NVA moving through the jungle attempting to locate the team night lager and he threw a grenade at the sound. Unfortunately, it hit a tree and bounced back into the team position. He covered the grenade himself to protect the rest of the team and, on 14 May 67, made the ultimate sacrifice for his fellow Recon Marines.

HM2 Michael Laporte (26 - E - 1) (had hair so blond it was bleached almost white by the Vietnamese sun. He was a rather short, easy-going, likable guy and a 'numba one' corpsman and he volunteered to be the Corpsman for a parachute insert patrol into Happy Valley. Literally crawling with VC and NVA, it was ANYTHING but a happy place for the Marines of 1st Recon. On the night of 5 Sep 67, the team did a night parachute insert. All departed the aircraft in good shape but Doc's parachute started drifting away from the stick. He was last seen going into the heavy triple-canopy jungle. Recon patrols searched the area of his disappearance from several weeks but "Doc" Laporte was gone without a trace. Several years later, he was given a presumptive finding of death.

I remember LCpl Ronald L. Kitzke (32-E-76 on the wall). He was a close friend since Marine Boot Camp. He came from Wawatosa WI and died on the evening of 27 Dec 67, on another little hilltop in Happy Valley. It was an OP (observation post) mission and "Ski" was part of the security element. He heard movement in the brush and looked down the trail thinking it was the observation element returning to the perimeter. He was met by a three-round burst from the AK-47 of a rifleman of the approaching NVA platoon. Two rounds entered his open mouth and ripped out through the back of his neck on either side of his spine. The third one entered his upper chest just below the neck and exited the middle of his back. It took several hours of artillery, air support, and finally an AC-47 to quell the NVA assault enough to get a helicopter in to extricate our 8-man recon team. The damage done by the three 7.62mm rounds was tremendous and there was no way to stop the bleeding deep in Ski's throat. Despite the valiant efforts of Doc Highum, Ski bled to death on the floor of the CH-46, on the way to Charlie Med.

I remember Hospital Corpsman-3 Robert Louis Tracey (34-E-72) as well. He was in the bush as part of an 8 man recon team on 18 Jan 68. When the NVA sprung an ambush, dropping the point man and machine-gunner with small arms and a Chi-Com claymore, Bob immediately and unhesitatingly ran forward to the sound of the gunfire. The NVA knew as well as the Marines that the Corpsman would come to help his wounded buddies and they waited for him. He was killed in the hail of gunfire he knew would be awaiting him as he dropped to the side of the wounded point man.

I'll never forget LCpl Michael G. Murdock and the way died. On 1 Feb 68, Mike was the team radio operator on a patrol on its way to Charlie Ridge. As the Ch-46 circled and descended to the LZ, Mike suddenly disappeared in a flash of light and spray of body parts. An RPG, fired from a concealed NVA position on the ground, came right through the side window of the helo and detonated on Mike's rucksack/radio. The helo crashed but, luckily, no one else was killed. He now lives in our memories and you can find him on the wall at 36-E-57.

Sgt J.J. Jones (53-W-02) left 2nd Platoon to take another recon team. On 3 Jun 68, he was leading that team to one the nondescript ridges of Elephant Valley. As the CH-46 was approaching the steep-sided landing zone, it came under intense fire and went down. As those in the second helo tried to return fire, they watched in horror as J.J.'s helo careened down the steep slope of the ridge in a fireball. The flight crew and all four Recon Marines aboard were killed. A reaction team later recovered the burned bodies and brought them to 1st Med BN in Danang. The only way to identify J.J.'s charred remains was by his rather large and unusually shaped nose, which was somehow still relatively intact.

You won't find Cpl Tony Velez on the Wall. He didn't die in Vietnam but was killed as a result of his service there as sure as if by an NVA bullet. Tony was hit in the side by two Ak-47 rounds during the same action that killed Mike Smith, though he recovered from (the physical) wounds. His death went unreported to the military. Tony went KIA a some years later when he could no longer stand the pain, both physical and emotional, and took his own life.

LCpl Fred Brisch isn't on the wall either. Freddie departed Vietnam in early spring of 1967 under his own power (I took the M-79 from him when he left). Like Tony Velez, memories of seeing and experiencing too much pain and suffering in too short a time became unbearable. Some 10 years after leaving the NAM, Fred "smoked" the barrel of his police revolver.

Semper fi, brothers! Rest in peace.

Bill

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Bill Woodier
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