William Fuchs, Jr
Private First Class
F CO, 2ND BN, 1ST MARINES, 3RD MARDIV, III MAF United States Marine Corps Milwaukee, Wisconsin May 24, 1945 to February 28, 1966 WILLIAM FUCHS Jr is on the Wall at Panel 5E, Line 85 |
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Bill was my boyhood friend and I just found his final resting place and brother Jack still alive after 40 years of searching. God Bless you, Bill, for the sacrifice you made for our freedom. This was the best Fourth of July ever - 7/4/2007.
From a boyhood friend, 10 Oct 2007 Dear family and friends, As some of you know, an anonymous person recently reading a remembrance I had written for my boyhood friend Marine PFC William A. Fuchs Jr., killed in action in Vietnam February 28, 1966 at The Virtual Wall on the internet, told me where he was buried. Wisconsin Memorial Park, Brookfield, Wisconsin, the city where I now reside. I had been searching for his final resting place and the whereabouts of his brother Jack on and off for 40 some odd years and had not seen them together in 50 years. We had lost touch when we moved from our neighborhood of 21st & North in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. We all attended Brown Street School and West Division High School in 1960. We all joined the armed forces; Bill in 1963 the Marines, me in 1964 the Army, and Jack in 1965 the Navy. Jack served 3 tours in Vietnam and escorted his brotherï¿ 1/2 s body home from Japan. There was much press and TV coverage of Billï¿ 1/2 s funeral as this was one of the first casualties of the war from Milwaukee. This tipster also provided me with their older brotherï¿ 1/2 s address and phone number whom I called immediately. I left message for Jack to call me if he wanted to talk to me. I waited two weeks with no response. I then wrote him a letter telling him he should only call if he wanted to and if not I would understand. I also told him how I had kept the memory of Bill alive for all these years and did understand the sanctity of a heroï¿ 1/2 s family. On the evening of July 2nd I received a phone call from Jack that he was here in Milwaukee and he had driven from a western state for two days. Naturally we had breakfast the next morning where I met his wife Annette and two daughters. We had not even taken a bite of our food when we started to exchange remembrances. He gave me the picture attached with him and Bill superimposed at the Wall. A unique picture, to say the least. I gave him a picture of himself in the 8th grade that he had given to Bill who somehow gave it to me. Now I was returning it to him 40 years later. On the back he had written a note of love ... "To Bill with love from Jack". I do not think the reality of this experience has set in yet for both of us. We did agree that the recent passing of his mother and another brother might have something to do with this reunion as well as Bill and, of course, God. See God does things on his timetable, not ours! You can imagine how this 4th of July has a very special meaning for us as well. We both knew freedom is not free but that Marine Pfc. William A. Fuchs Jr. killed in action on February 28th, 1966 in Vietnam has and will be remembered by Jack and my family as well as others who I have told this story to, has not died in vain for "no man is dead until he is forgotten".
God bless you all and the United States of America. Bill and his brother Jack at The Moving Wall
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William,
We give thanks to God always for you all, A friend of a friend, JC from PA
Joycelyn C Kettren |
A Note from The Virtual WallOn 28 Feb 1966 Fox and Golf Companies, 2nd Bn, 1st Marines, were conducting a search and destroy operation on the Phu Thu Peninsula in Thua Thien Province. Fox 2/1 encountered a "heavy contact" which developed into a bitter fight with elements of a VC Main Force battalion. Fox 2/1 had 14 men killed in action before Golf 2/1 flanked the enemy from one direction and an ARVN battalion from another, forcing the VC to scatter and attempt a retreat. Golf 2/1 lost another Marine in the operation. The 15 men were
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