Go Back   Professional Soldiers ® > Hall of Heroes > POW/MIA

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 08-10-2005, 02:22   #1
Pandora
Hornet Nest Poker
 
Pandora's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Canada
Posts: 272
MIA Remains Identified and Flown Home

Many here can appreciate the beauty in this recent AP story. And our Thanks to those who work so hard to make this possible

Families Find Closure With Pentagon's Identification of MIA Remains
__________________
-------------------------------------------------------
an ounce of perception... a pound of obscure
Pandora is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-10-2005, 07:57   #2
The Reaper
Quiet Professional
 
The Reaper's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Free Pineland
Posts: 24,779
RIP, brothers.

Welcome home.

TR
__________________
"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat." - President Theodore Roosevelt, 1910

De Oppresso Liber 01/20/2025
The Reaper is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-10-2005, 08:02   #3
jbour13
Area Commander
 
jbour13's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: JBLM
Posts: 1,246
Welcome home Warriors!!
jbour13 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-10-2005, 09:31   #4
Jgood
Quiet Professional
 
Jgood's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Currently FT. Bragg
Posts: 622
Never Forgotten
Welcome home
__________________
There is only one tactical principal which is not subject to change. It is to use the means at hand to inflict the maximum amount of wounds, death and destruction on the enemy in the minimum amount of time.
Gen. George S. Patton, Jr.
Jgood is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-10-2005, 11:04   #5
Team Sergeant
Quiet Professional
 
Team Sergeant's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Posts: 20,929
MILLER, GLENN EDWIN

Name: Glenn Edwin Miller
Rank/Branch: E5/US Army Special Forces
Unit: Detachment A-105, 5th Special Forces Group
Date of Birth: 13 September 1944 (Berkeley CA)
Home City of Record: Oakland CA
Date of Loss: 12 May 1968
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 152208N 1074541E (YC965009)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Refno: 1167

Source: Compiled from one or more of the following: raw data from U.S.
Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families,
published sources, interviews. Updated by the P.O.W. NETWORK in 1998.

Personnel in Incident: Ngok Tavak: Horace H. Fleming; Thomas J. Blackman;Joseph F. Cook; Paul S. Czerwonka; Thomas W. Fritsch; Barry L. Hempel; Raymond T. Heyne; Gerald E. King; Robert C. Lopez; William D. McGonigle; Donald W. Mitchell; James R. Sargent (members of USMC search team - all
missing); Glenn E. Miller; Thomas H. Perry (USSF teammembers - missing); Kham Duc: Richard E. Sands (missing from CH47); Bernard L. Bucher; Frank M.
Hepler; George W. Long; John L. McElroy; Stephan C. Moreland (USAF crew of C130 - all missing); Warren R. Orr (USSF on C130 - missing); Harry B. Coen; Andrew J. Craven; Juan M. Jimenez; Frederick J. Ransbottom; Maurice H.
Moore; Joseph L. Simpson; William E. Skivington; John C. Stuller; Imlay S. Widdison; Danny L. Widner; Roy C. Williams (all missing); Julius W. Long
(released POW).

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Kham Duc Special Forces camp (A-105), was located on the western fringes of Quang Tin ("Great Faith") Province, South Vietnam. In the spring of 1968, it was the only remaining border camp in Military Region I. Backup responsibility for the camp fell on the 23rd Infantry Division (Americal),
based at Chu Lai on the far side of the province.

The camp had originally been built for President Diem, who enjoyed hunting in the area. The 1st Special Forces detachment (A-727B) arrived in September 1963 and found the outpost to be an ideal border surveillance site with an existing airfield. The camp was located on a narrow grassy plain surrounded by rugged, virtually uninhabited jungle. The only village in the area,
located across the airstrip, was occupied by post dependents, camp followers and merchants. The camp and airstrip were bordered by the Ngok Peng Bum ridge to the west and Ngok Pe Xar mountain, looming over Kham Duc to the east. Steep banked streams full of rapids and waterfalls cut through the
tropical wilderness. The Dak Mi River flowed past the camp over a mile distant, under the shadow of the Ngok Pe Xar.

Five miles downriver was the small forward operating base of Ngok Tavak, defended by the 113-man 11th Mobile Strike Force Company with its 8 Special Forces and 3 Australian advisors. Since Ngok Tavak was outside friendly artillery range, 33 Marine artillerymen of Battery D, 2nd Battalion, 13th Marines, with two 105mm howitzers were located at the outpost.

Capt. Christopher J. Silva, commander of Detachment A-105 helicoptered into Ngok Tavak on May 9, 1968 in response to growing signs of NVA presence in the area. Foul weather prevented his scheduled evening departure. A Kham Duc
CIDG platoon fleeing a local ambush also arrived and was posted to the outer perimeter. It was later learned that the CIDG force contained VC infiltrators.

Ngok Tavak was attacked by an NVA infantry battalion at 0315 hours on May 10. The base was pounded by mortars and direct rocket fire. As the frontal assault began, the Kham Duc CIDG soldiers moved toward the Marines in the fort yelling, "Don't shoot, don't shoot! Friendly, friendly!" Suddenly they
lobbed grenades into the Marine howitzer positions and ran into the fort, where they shot several Marines with carbines and sliced claymore mine and communication wires.

The defenders suffered heavy casualties but stopped the main assault and killed the infiltrators. The NVA dug in along the hill slopes and grenaded the trenches where the mobile strike force soldiers were pinned by machine gun and rocket fire. An NVA flamethrower set the ammunition ablaze, banishing the murky flare- lighted darkness for the rest of the night. SFC
Harold M. Swicegood and the USMC platoon leader, Lt. Adams, were badly wounded and moved to the command bunker. Medical Spec4 Blomgren reported that the CIDG mortar crews had abandoned their weapons. Silva tried to operate the main 4.2 inch mortar but was wounded. At about 0500 hours, Sgt. Glenn Miller, an A-105 communications specialist, was shot through the head as he ran over to join the Marine howitzer crews.

The NVA advanced across the eastern side of Ngok Tavak and brought forward more automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenade launchers. In desperation, the defenders called on USAF AC-47 "Spooky" gunships to strafe the perimeter and the howitzers, despite the possible presence of friendly
wounded in the gun pits. The NVA countered with tear gas, but the wind kept drifting the gas over their own lines. After three attempts, they stopped. A grenade fight between the two forces lasted until dawn.

At daybreak Australian Warrant Officers Cameron and Lucas, joined by Blomgren, led a CIDG counterattack. The North Vietnamese pulled back under covering fire, and the howitzers were retaken. The Marines fired the last nine shells and spiked the tubes. Later that morning medical evacuation helicopters supported by covering airstrikes took out the seriously wounded,
including Silva and Swicegood. Two CH46's were able to land 45 replacements from the 12th Mobile Strike Force Company, accompanied by Capt. Euge E. Makowski (who related much of this account to Shelby Stanton, author of "Green Berets at War"), but one helicopter was hit in the fuel line and forced down. Another helicopter was hit by a rocket and burst into flames, wrecking the small helipad. The remaining wounded were placed aboard a
hovering helicopter. As it lifted off, two Mike Force soldiers and 1Lt.
Horace Fleming, one of the stranded aviation crewmen, grabbed the helicopter skids. All three fell to their deaths after the helicopter had reached an altitude of over one hundred feet.

The mobile strike force soldiers were exhausted and nervous. Ammunition and water were nearly exhausted, and Ngok Tavak was still being pounded by sporadic mortar fire. They asked permission to evacuate their positions, but were told to "hold on" as "reinforcements were on the way". By noon the defenders decided that aerial reinforcement or evacuation was increasingly
unlikely, and night would bring certain destruction. An hour later, they abandoned Ngok Tavak.

Thomas Perry, a medic from C Company, arrived at the camp at 0530 hours the morning of the 10th. He cared for the wounded and was assisting in an attempt to establish a defensive perimeter when the decision was made to evacuate the camp. As survivors were leaving, Perry was seen by Sgt. Cordell J. Matheney, Jr., standing 20 feet away, as Australian Army Capt. John White
formed the withdrawal column at the outer perimeter wire on the eastern Ngok Tavak hillside. It was believed that Perry was going to join the end of the column.

All the weapons, equipment and munitions that could not be carried were hastily piled into the command bunker and set afire. The helicopter that had been grounded by a ruptured fuel line was destroyed with a LAW. Sgt. Miller's body was abandoned.

After survivors had gone about 1 kilometer, it was discovered that Perry was missing. Efforts were conducted to locate both Perry and Miller, including a search by a group from Battery D. They were searching along the perimeter when they were hit by enemy grenades and arms fire. Neither the men on the team nor Perry was ever found. Included in this team were PFC Thomas
Blackman; LCpl. Joseph Cook; PFC Paul Czerwonka; LCpl. Thomas Fritsch; PFC Barry Hempel; LCpl. Raymond Heyne; Cpl. Gerald King; PFC Robert Lopez; PFC William McGonigle; LCpl. Donald Mitchell; and LCpl. James Sargent. The remaining survivors evaded through dense jungle to a helicopter pickup point
midway to Kham Duc. Their extraction was completed shortly before 1900 hours on the evening of May 10.

In concert with the Ngok Tavak assault, the Kham Duc was blasted by a heavy mortar and recoilless rifle attack at 0245 hours that same morning. Periodic mortar barrages ripped into Kham Duc throughout the rest of the day, while the Americal Division airmobiled a reinforced battalion of the 196th Infantry Brigade into the compound. A Special Forces command party also landed, but the situation deteriorated too rapidly for their presence to
have positive effect.

The mortar attack on fog-shrouded Kham Duc resumed on the morning of May 11. The bombardment caused heavy losses among the frightened CIDG soldiers, who fled from their trenches across open ground, seeking shelter in the bunkers. The LLDB commander remained hidden. CIDG soldiers refused orders to check
the rear of the camp for possible North Vietnamese intruders. That evening the 11th and 12th Mobile Strike Force companies were airlifted to Da Nang, and half of the 137th CIDG Company from Camp Ha Thanh was airlanded in exchange.
Team Sergeant is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-10-2005, 11:10   #6
Team Sergeant
Quiet Professional
 
Team Sergeant's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Posts: 20,929
continued...

The 1st VC Regiment, 2nd NVA Division, began closing the ring around Kham Duc during the early morning darkness of 12 May. At about 0415 to 0430 hours, the camp and outlying positions came under heavy enemy attack.
Outpost #7 was assaulted and fell within a few minutes. Outposts #5, #1 and #3 had been reinforced by Americal troops but were in North Vietnamese hands by 0930 hours.

OP1 was manned by PFC Harry Coen, PFC Andrew Craven, Sgt. Joseph Simpson, and SP4 Julius Long from Company E, 2nd of the 1st Infantry. At about 0415 hours, when OP1 came under heavy enemy attack, PFC Coen and SP4 Long were seen trying to man a 106 millimeter recoilless rifle. Survivors reported that in the initial enemy fire, they were knocked off their bunker. Both men
again tried to man the gun, but were knocked down again by RPG fire.

PFC Craven, along with two other men, departed the OP at 0830 hours on May 12. They moved out 50 yards and could hear the enemy in their last position. At about 1100 hours, as they were withdrawing to the battalion perimeter, they encountered an enemy position. PFC Craven was the pointman and opened
fire. The enemy returned fire, and PFC Craven was seen to fall, with multiple chest wounds. The other two men were unable to recover him, and hastily departed the area. PFC Craven was last seen lying on his back, wounded, near the camp.

OP2 was being manned by 1Lt. Frederick Ransbottom, SP4 Maurice Moore, PFC Roy Williams, PFC Danny Widner, PFC William Skivington, PFC Imlay Widdison, and SP5 John Stuller, from the 2nd of the 3rd Infantry when it came under attack. Informal questioning of survivors of this position indicated that
PFC Widdison and SP5 Stuller may have been killed in action. However, the questioning was not sufficiently thorough to produce enough evidence to confirm their deaths.

The only information available concerning 1Lt. Ransbottom, SP4 Moore, PFC Lloyd and PFC Skivington that Lt. Ransbottom allegedly radioed PFC Widner and PFC Williams, who were in the third bunker, and told them that he was shooting at the enemy as they entered his bunker.

SP4 Juan Jimenez, a rifleman assigned to Company A, 2nd of the 1st Infantry, was occupying a defensive position when he was severely wounded in the back by enemy mortar fire. SP4 Jimenez was declared dead by the Battalion Surgeon in the early morning hours of May 12. He was then carried to the helipad for
evacuation. However, due to the situation, space was available in the helicopter for only the wounded, and SP4 Jimenez'remains were left behind.

At noon a massive NVA attack was launched against the main compound. The charge was stopped by planes hurling napalm, cluster bomb units and 750 pound bombs into the final wire barriers. The decision was made by the Americal Division officers to call for immediate extraction.

The evacuation was disorderly, and at times, on the verge of complete panic. One of the first extraction helicopters to land was exploded by enemy fire, blocking the airstrip. Engineers of Company A, 70th Engineer Battalion, frantically reassembled one of their dozers (previously torn apart to prevent capture) to clear the runway. Eight more aircraft were blown out of
the sky.

PFC Richard E. Sands was a member of Company A, 1st Battalion, 46th Infantry, 198th Light Infantry Brigade being extracted on a CH47 helicopter (serial #67-18475). The helicopter was hit by 50 calliber machine gun fire at an altitude of 1500-1600 feet shortly after takeoff.

Sands, who was sitting near the door gunner, was hit in the head by an incoming rounds. The helicopter made a controlled landing and caught fire. During the evacuation from the burning helicopter, four personnel and a medic checked PFC Sands and indicated that he had been killed instantly.
Because of the danger of incoming mortar rounds and the fire, personnel attempting to remove PFC Sands from the helicopter were ordered to abandon their attempt. The remaining personnel were evacuated from the area later by another helicopter.

Intense antiaircraft fire from the captured outposts caused grave problems. Control over the indigenous forces was difficult. One group of CIDG soldiers had to be held in trenches at gunpoint to prevent them from mobbing the runway.

As evacuation was in progress, members of Company A, 1/46, who insisted on boarding the aircraft first, shoved Vietnamese dependents out of the way. As more Americal infantry tried to clamber into the outbound planes, the outraged Special Forces staff convinced the Air Force to start loading civilians onboard a C130, then watched as the civilians pushed children and
weaker adults aside.

The crew of the U.S. Air Force C130 aircraft (serial #60-0297) consisted of Maj. Bernard Bucher, pilot; SSgt. Frank Hepler, flight engineer; Maj. John McElroy, navigator; 1Lt. Steven Moreland, co-pilot; George Long, load master; Capt. Warren Orr, passenger, and an undetermined number of Vietnamese civilians.

The aircraft reported receiving ground fire on takeoff. The Forward Air Control (FAC) in the area reported that the aircraft exploded in mid-air and crashed in a fire ball about one mile from camp. All crew and passengers were believed dead, as the plane burned quickly and was completely destroyed except for the tail boom. No remains were recovered from the aircraft.

Capt. Orr was not positively identified by U.S. personnel as being aboard the aircraft. He was last seen near the aircraft helping the civilians to board. However, a Vietnamese stated that he had seen Capt. Orr board the aircraft and later positively identified him from a photograph. Rescue efforts were impossible because of the hostile threat in the area.

At the time the order was given to escape and evade, SP4 Julius Long was was with Coen and Simpson. All three had been wounded, and were trying to make their way back to the airfield about 350 yards away. As they reached the airfield, they saw the last C130 departing. PFC Coen, who was shot in the stomach, panicked and started running and shooting his weapon at random. SP4 Long tried to catch him, but could not, and did not see PFC Coen again. Long then carried Sgt. Simpson to a nearby hill, where they spent the night.

During the night, the airfield was strafed and bombed by U.S. aircraft. SP4 Long was hit twice in the back by fragments, and Sgt. Simpson died during the night. SP4 Long left him lying on the hill near the Cam Duc airfield and started his escape and evasion toward Chu Lai, South Vietnam. SP4 Long was captured and was released in 1973 from North Vietnam.

The Special Forces command group was the last organized group out of the camp. As their helicopter soared into the clouds, Kham Duc was abandoned to advancing NVA infantry at 4:33 p.m. on May 12, 1968. The last Special Forces camp on the northwestern frontier of South Vietnam had been destroyed.

Two search and recovery operations were conducted in the vicinity of OP1 and OP2 and the Cam Duc airfield on July 18, 1970 and August 17, 1970. In these operations, remains of personnel previously reported missing from this incident were recovered and subsequently identified. (SP4 Bowers, PFC Lloyd,
Sgt. Sisk, PFC Guzman-Rios and SSgt. Carter). However, extensive search and excavation could not be completed at OP1 and OP2 because of the tactical situation.

It was assumed that all the missing at Kham Duc were killed in action until about 1983, when the father of one of the men missing discovered a Marine Corps document which indicated that four of the men had been taken prisoner. The document listed the four by name. Until then, the families had not been advised of the possibility there were any American prisoners taken other
than Julius Long. A Vietnamese rallier identified the photograph of Roy C. Williams as positively having been a POW.

Until proof is obtained that the rest of the men lost at Ngok Tavak and Kham Duc are dead, their families will always wonder if they are among those said to still be alive in Southeast Asia.

P.O.W. NETWORK

http://www.pownetwork.org/bios/m/m419.htm
Team Sergeant is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-10-2005, 13:06   #7
CPTAUSRET
Gun Pilot
 
CPTAUSRET's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Iowa and New Mexico
Posts: 2,143
Sobering read.

I am glad they made it home.

Terry
__________________
E7-CW3-direct commission VN
B model gunship pilot 65-66 Soc Trang, Cobra Pilot 68-69-70 Can Tho Life member 101st Airborne Association
CPTAUSRET is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-10-2005, 16:50   #8
Maas
Gone Huntin'
 
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Tennessee
Posts: 90
Welcome home.
Maas is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-10-2005, 17:48   #9
Gypsy
Area Commander
 
Gypsy's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Midwest
Posts: 7,107
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pandora
Many here can appreciate the beauty in this recent AP story. And our Thanks to those who work so hard to make this possible
Amen.

Welcome home Warriors, may you Rest in Peace.
__________________
My Heroes wear camouflage.
Gypsy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-10-2005, 19:24   #10
lrd
Area Commander
 
lrd's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: MD
Posts: 1,012
Welcome home, gentlemen.

And a huge thank you to all who work to bring our guys and gals home. I hope you understand how comforting it is to the families just to know you are out there doing this.
lrd is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-10-2005, 21:42   #11
CoLawman
Area Commander
 
CoLawman's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Colorado
Posts: 1,205
RIP At Home Men!

Thanks for the post TS! I concur it was very sobering.
CoLawman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-10-2005, 23:47   #12
12B4S
Quiet Professional
 
12B4S's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Colorado
Posts: 754
Welcome back......... RIP
__________________
Brad...
12B4S is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-12-2005, 03:21   #13
KolB
Quiet Professional
 
KolB's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Bluegrass State
Posts: 59
Welcome home warriors; thank you for your service.
__________________
--What happens to a man is less significant than what happens within him.
Dr. Louis L. Mann

--The opinion of 10,000 men is of no value if none of them know anything about the subject.
Marcus Aurelius
KolB is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-03-2005, 10:08   #14
jasonglh
Guerrilla
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Kentucky
Posts: 332
Donnie Mitchell's family finds closure

By LaMar Bryan
Messenger Managing Editor



Sunday, August 28, 2005

By all accounts, the small battlefield near the Vietnam-Laos border fit the definition of hell on earth.

U.S. troops and allies fended off North Vietnamese attackers, who shot down helicopters and threatened to overrun the hillside outpost called Ngok Tavak.

Throughout the 10 hours of fierce fighting, commanders sensed disaster looming. They authorized an evacuation after reinforcements didn’t arrive.

When guns silenced, the casualty list included more than two dozen Americans unaccounted for at two camps some five miles apart. The government later categorized most of these GIs as dead, though their bodies were never recovered.

One of those missing in action was Marine Lance Cpl. Donnie Mitchell, 20, of nearby Princeton.

The young Marine’s father, Herman Mitchell, mostly accepted the military’s explanation that Donnie had died in combat on May 10, 1968. Conflicting stories, however, made it difficult to extinguish all doubts about his son’s fate.

The most persistent report claimed Donnie served on a team sent back to scout for a medic left behind when troops hurriedly pulled out of Ngok Tavak. Eleven members of the team became missing themselves – apparently killed by advancing enemy soldiers.

During an interview a dozen years ago, Herman Mitchell held little hope that his son would miraculously walk through the front door one day. Yet, his soul ached for the opportunity to give Donnie a proper burial and to embrace the closure that would come with that final act of civility.

Thirty-seven springs passed and still the Mitchell family waited. They bought a headstone and set aside a burial site in the family’s cemetery plot.

During this period, Elvis died and the Rolling Stones grew old. Mankind set foot on the moon and cloned any number of animals. The Cold War ended and new wars arose. And the U.S. resumed diplomatic ties with Vietnam.

This thawing of relationships fostered opportunities for joint U.S.-Vietnam teams to search old crash sites and battlefields for MIA remains.

The Mitchells started hearing more frequently from military officials, who provided periodic updates on recovery efforts.

Some veterans groups, never forgetting the unusually large number of MIAs at Ngok Tavak and Kham Duc, urged the government to give those former camps high priority. The dangerous tactical situation made it impractical to conduct a proper recovery operation in that region during the final years of the Vietnam War.

Herman Mitchell died in 1998 with many questions left unanswered. It was the same year his daughter, Brenda Scott, submitted a DNA sample for labs to use in comparison with any bone fragments recovered.

The search for the missing troops advanced in painstakingly slow fashion. It was much like pulling a folder out of the unsolved mysteries bin from the 1960s and starting anew to piece together leads.

Investigators reviewed after-action reports and interviewed American and Vietnamese veterans who fought in the battle. They also sought out villagers to help pinpoint areas for excavation.

What searchers uncovered ranged from belt buckles and buttons to pieces of combat boots and bone fragments. It would require years to sort out the evidence and complete forensic analysis.

Scott said she knew this summer that the government was close to releasing its findings. She recalls the warm tears streaming down her checks while reading an e-mail saying some of Donnie’s bone fragments had been positively identified.

A team of Marine representatives met with the Mitchells in July to present two bound volumes of evidence, compiled by a military lab and reviewed by three independent labs. In addition to Donnie, technicians had identified 11 other Americans missing from Ngok Tavak.

The family learned that Donnie died at the beginning of the battle rather than with the lost team.

“The guys that survived were very lucky they made it out alive,” Scott said. “There was no way they could get the remains out.”

Scott said family members have received numerous calls in recent weeks from the media, well-wishers and groups like Rolling Thunder, which has helped focus attention on POWs-MIAs.

“It’s just amazing there is so much interest from people who don’t even know Donnie,” she said.

The Mitchells buried the Princeton Marine this weekend next to his great-grandfather. One of the guys from his unit attended the funeral, as well as an official delegation from the military.

Additional bone fragments recovered during the excavations likely belong to Donnie, but the lab couldn’t make a conclusive determination. They will be placed in a mass grave, along with remains from seven of his comrades, at Arlington National Cemetery in October.

This closure is what the family had hoped for all of those years. It’s what Donnie would have expected, that his nation would never give up on bringing him home.

Semper Fidelis.
__________________
Victory is the only end that justifies the sacrifice of men at war.

Col. Robert W. Black
jasonglh is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-05-2005, 07:43   #15
sharkmanII
Quiet Professional
 
sharkmanII's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Northern VA
Posts: 45
Heroes Welcome

Welcome home brothers. May you NOW rest in peace.
sharkmanII is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump



All times are GMT -6. The time now is 09:38.



Copyright 2004-2022 by Professional Soldiers ®
Site Designed, Maintained, & Hosted by Hilliker Technologies