09-05-2005, 10:53
|
#16
|
Area Commander
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Pacific NorthWet
Posts: 1,495
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by sharkmanII
Welcome home brothers. May you NOW rest in peace.
|
Sharkman, I think they can now rest in peace, knowing their love ones have closure. I pray their loves ones can find peace and solice in knowing that their warriors are home.
|
HOLLiS is offline
|
|
12-22-2006, 19:12
|
#17
|
Guest
|
Soldiers Missing in Action from Vietnam War are Identified
Adding the link here, Maj. Frederick J. Ransbottom and Staff Sgt. William E. Skivington Jr are listed within post 5 of this thread.
Never Forgotten
Welcome home
DefenseLink
The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of two U.S. servicemen, missing in action from the Vietnam War, have been identified and will be returned to their families for burial with full military honors.
They are Maj. Frederick J. Ransbottom, of Oklahoma City, Okla.; and Staff Sgt. William E. Skivington Jr.; of Las Vegas, Nev.; both U.S. Army. Ransbottom will be buried in Edmond, Okla. on Jan. 13, and Skivington will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C., on Jan. 23.
Representatives from the Army met with the next-of-kin of these men to explain the recovery and identification process, and to coordinate interment with military honors on behalf of the Secretary of the Army.
On May 12, 1968, North Vietnamese forces overran the Kham Duc Special Forces camp and its surrounding observation posts in Quang Nam-Da Nang Province (formerly Quang Tin Province), South Vietnam. Ransbottom and Skivington were two of the 17 U.S. servicemen unaccounted-for after the survivors evacuated the camp. Search and recovery efforts at the site in 1970 succeeded in recovering remains of five of the 17 men. A sixth man was returned alive during Operation Homecoming in 1973 after having been captured and held prisoner of war by the North Vietnamese.
Between 1993 and 2006, joint U.S./Socialist Republic of Vietnam teams, led by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), conducted eight investigations and four excavations in the vicinity of the camp site. The team interviewed former North Vietnamese officers and soldiers who participated in the battle. Some recalled seeing the bodies of U.S. servicemen near one of the observation posts, and U.S. eyewitness accounts placed Ransbottom and Skivington near the post.
During an excavation conducted in 1998, two U.S. servicemen who survived the battle accompanied JPAC to help locate the observation posts, but found no evidence of human remains. Later excavations conducted in the area yielded human remains, identification media and personal effects for Ransbottom, Skivington and several other soldiers.
Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists from JPAC also used dental comparisons in the identification of the remains.
|
|
|
12-22-2006, 19:43
|
#18
|
Guerrilla
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Texas
Posts: 198
|
Welcome Home and Rest In Peace, Warriors.
__________________
"Do not pray for an easy life. Pray for the strength to endure a difficult one."
Bruce Lee
|
Texian is offline
|
|
12-22-2006, 20:35
|
#19
|
Area Commander
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Delaware
Posts: 1,425
|
Welcome home men. Rest in peace.
__________________
You ask; What is our policy? I will say; “It is to wage war, by sea, land and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us: to wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy.” You ask; What is our aim? I can answer with one word: Victory—victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however long and hard the road may be; for without victory there is no survival.-Winston Churchill
|
Goggles Pizano is offline
|
|
12-26-2006, 21:02
|
#20
|
Asset
Join Date: May 2004
Location: White Oak WV 25989
Posts: 49
|
Rest in Peace.
|
catd11r is offline
|
|
12-31-2006, 21:34
|
#21
|
Quiet Professional
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Potomac River
Posts: 925
|
I was the platoon Leader for Echo Recon 2/1 for most of 1971. My predecessor was killed up on the DMZ one night. His predecessor was killed near Baldy and his predecessor was killed in a night ambush site when his ambush got ambushed.
Lt Ransbottom was the one before that (to my knowledge). Only one of the five of us made it home alive. Being Recon Plt Ldr was not a easy job. My freind who left 10th SFG with me and went to RVN became the Recon Plt Ldr for my sister unit, 1/46, and he went home alive but shot up. We might have been fighting a losing war but we gave it a good try.
This is what I know from my home unit forum -196th Inf Brigade.
KHAM DUC: Mrs Ransbottom has picked 13 Jan 2007 1:00 pm at the Henderson Hills Church ,in Edmund OK.for her son's burial. Lt. Ransbottom's remains were recently returned from OP-2 at Kham Duc where they have been since 12 may 1968 , Mother's Day. He was the Plt Ldr of the Reconn Plt manning OP's at Kham Duc and they were overrun. He was in "E" Co. 2/1st Inf. Skip Skivington's, from same OP-2 bunker, remains were also returned and an Arlington burial is planned ,,but no firm date yet. "God Bless the Infantry",,, and their families
Bill Schneider
Bull Town, Mo USA - Wednesday, December 06, 2006 at 14:49:43 (EST)
|
Buffalobob is offline
|
|
01-23-2007, 13:42
|
#22
|
Quiet Professional
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Potomac River
Posts: 925
|
SSGT Skivington's service at Arlington was today. When they placed the casket at the gravesite the sun came out for the first time in several days.
|
Buffalobob is offline
|
|
01-23-2007, 13:44
|
#23
|
Quiet Professional
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: In transit somewhere
Posts: 4,044
|
Peace to you my brothers - Rest Well, you are home again.
__________________
In the business of war, there is no invariable stategic advantage (shih) which can be relied upon at all times.
Sun-Tzu, "The Art of Warfare"
Hearing, I forget. Seeing, I remember. Writing (doing), I understand. Chinese Proverb
Too many people are looking for a magic bullet. As always, shot placement is the key. ~TR
|
x SF med is offline
|
|
01-23-2007, 13:56
|
#24
|
Quiet Professional
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Free Pineland
Posts: 24,797
|
RIP, brother.
Is that a Dress Blue Pile Cap, or do my eyes deceive me?
Never seen one of them before.
Casket, can you verify?
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
|
|
01-23-2007, 14:14
|
#25
|
Quiet Professional
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Currently FT. Bragg
Posts: 622
|
Rest in peace
__________________
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
|
|
01-23-2007, 14:37
|
#26
|
Guerrilla
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 428
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by The Reaper
RIP, brother.
Is that a Dress Blue Pile Cap, or do my eyes deceive me?
Never seen one of them before.
Casket, can you verify?
TR
|
Quote:
AR-670-1
20-10 Items normally worn with the Army blue uniform
27-5. Cap, cold weather, AG shade 489
a. Type. The cold-weather cap is an optional purchase item.
b. Description. The cap is made of AG shade 489 fabric with a black synthetic fur visor and side flaps. Snap fasteners are attached to hold the visor and flaps in the up position. An eyelet in the center of the front visor is provided to center and attach headgear insignia. Because of the thickness of the fur pile, headgear insignia worn on the cap must have a center post and screw. Therefore, all soldiers will wear the male headgear insignia on the cold-weather cap
c. How worn. The cap is worn straight on the head so that the headgear insignia is centered on the forehead. No hair will be visible on the forehead. The side flaps are fastened under the chin when the flaps are worn down. The cap is authorized for wear when wearing the black windbreaker with the class B uniform and with the black all-weather coat with service, dress, mess, hospital duty, and food service uniforms. It is not authorized for wear when the black pullover or cardigan sweaters are worn as outer garments with the class B uniform.
|
Your eyes didn't lie.
|
sf11b_p is offline
|
|
01-23-2007, 14:41
|
#27
|
Quiet Professional
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Potomac River
Posts: 925
|
Reaper
They all had them on and they looked like "issue".
There were about 6-8 people who appeared to be from SFA XI but I only pay my dues and never go to any of the meetings so I do not know who they were except like me they were either grey headed or bald.
Anyone who is from the DC metro area may can see it on News Channel 8.
|
Buffalobob is offline
|
|
01-23-2007, 16:11
|
#28
|
Area Commander
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: No. VA, USA
Posts: 1,095
|
Rest in peace.
|
vsvo is offline
|
|
01-23-2007, 21:31
|
#29
|
Guerrilla
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Pacific North Wet
Posts: 402
|
Welcome home. It's good to have you back.
LL
|
LibraryLady is offline
|
|
12-12-2009, 13:17
|
#30
|
Asset
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Hampton, Ga.
Posts: 10
|
Ngok Tavak POW/MIA
Thought I might add a few tid-bits about Ngok Tavak.
1. Headquarters did not want us to leave the camp. Capt. White was
requesting help all morning. Their reply every time was that help was on
the way and to hold on.
2. The only help that made it into the camp, were three SF (one commo &
two medics) that came in on a huey at 05:30AM. About forty-five indig and
a SF Capt came in a later, when it was thought to be a little safer to
land. Two of the four CH-46s that were bringing them in, were shot down
as they were about to land. This filled the LZ and meant that we were not
going to get any help by choppers. We were still being told to hold.
3. At the same time, Kham Duc was being surrounded and losing OP's. They
were having their on problems. Still, we were being told to hold on.
4. I guess they wanted us to hold on, because the NVA were no longer trying
to hide and our air support was having a field day killing them. God Bless
our air support.
5. I can't speak for everyone else, but this is about this time that I started
making deals with GOD.
6. At 12:00PM Capt White informed our Deputy Commander, who was
overhead in a huey, that we would be leaving the camp at 01:00PM.
He told Capt White that he better be glad that he was an Australian.
7. The HEROES that day were the men of Dust-off 55 (Double Nickle). They
took out appox. sixty of the wounded that day. We were getting men
wounded all morning and they kept coming in, in-spite of the heavy fire.
God Bless the men of Double Nickle. Had they not picked-up our wounded,
we would have stayed at Ngok Tavak and made our Deputy Commander
happy. By the way, the pilot of Double Nickle was, now retired Major
General Patrick Henry Brady MOH. In my opinion he should have received it
for what he did for all of us.
8. All of our KIA's occurred before we left camp and not going back to look for
anyone left behind.
9. The question that gets asked all the time is "Why did y'all leave the KIA's?
Between the American KIA's and the indig KIA's, there were
more of them than there was of us to carry. Keep in mind, this was an E&E,
not a stroll in the park.
10. None of us had any idea how Perry became MIA. (and still don't)
This isn't the whole story, by no means. I'm sure everyone who was there
has his own. This is just some of mine.
Jack D.
05B4S
Det-B16
1st Mobile Strike Force, DaNang
|
spiceygoggles28 is offline
|
|
Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
|
|
Thread Tools |
|
Display Modes |
Linear Mode
|
Posting Rules
|
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
HTML code is Off
|
|
|
All times are GMT -6. The time now is 14:25.
|
|
|