Paul Arnold Graff

Lance Corporal
H&S CO, 1ST BN, 3RD MARINES, 3RD MARDIV
United States Marine Corps
27 August 1949 - 25 May 1969
Sunnyvale, California
Panel 24W Line 105

3RD MARDIV

3RD MARINES
Purple Heart, National Defense, Vietnam Service, Vietnam Campaign

The database page for Paul Arnold Graff

20 Nov 2001

Paul and I went thru boot camp and infantry training together before being sent to South Vietnam where we were separated into different outfits. Paul and I were good friends and he was an excellent Marine. I would like to extend my deepest sympathy to his family.

A memorial from a Marine buddy,
Robert E. Chatigny
1816 Pamela Lane, Weatherford, Ok 73096
chatig9@aol.com

05 Apr 2004

"For Those Who Fought For It,
Freedom Has A Taste
The Protected Will Never Know"
God Bless

From someone who was there,
Herbert T. Casey Sr.
caseyh@dnr.state.wi.us

10 Nov 2006

On this Veterans' Day I salute Mr. Graff and all servicemen. Niles "Nick" Strew was another 1/3 Marine with Bravo Company. Nick's father Lester Strew served in WWII and Korea. Lester was a Japanese POW. Can someone put me in contact with Nick, so I can learn more about Lester's WWII POW experience?

From a collector of letters and diaries,
Marc Smilen
marcus-stevo@webtv.net

A Note from The Virtual Wall

On 25 May 1969 Bravo Company, 1/3 Marines, was holding a defensive position about 5 kilometers southwest of Cam Lo (in Quang Tri Province just south of the DMZ). The position had received enemy 82mm mortar fire during the morning hours, apparently without harm, but the company's luck changed in the afternoon. The Command Chronology reports that
"At 251745H, at Bravo Company position vicinity YD055684, the NVA firing 82mm mortars ... dropped one round into the increments pit of the 81mm mortars, setting them on fire, fire spread to the 81mm ammo in the ammo pits, this started the 81mm ammo going off, and the fire spread to a pallet of 81mm ammo near the position, causing it to explode. People trying to put out the fire before the explosion got too close, Bravo suffered 8 KIA, 29 WIA, and 2 MIA. Rounds continued to cook off, making it impossible that night to get every one of the KIA or WIA out. Company forced to move off hill by continuous explosions."
On the morning of the 26th the Marines regrouped, reoccupied the position, and recovered additional bodies, increasing the casualty count to 12 dead. No identifiable remains were recovered for two Marines known to be present, and a week later one of the wounded died of his injuries. The fifteen men were
  • 1stLt John W. Abbott, Hammond, IN, Bravo 1/3
  • 2ndLt Timothy M. O'Neill, St Louis, MO, Bravo 1/3
  • Cpl Gary D. Carter, Tyler, TX, Bravo 1/3
  • Cpl Daniel L. Pucci, Berea, OH, Bravo 1/3 (DoW 06/02/1969)
  • Cpl Jan Rauschkolb, Denver, CO, H&S 1/3
  • Cpl William F. Skaggs, St Paul, MN, Bravo 1/3
  • LCpl Paul A. Graff, Sunnyvale, CA, H&S 1/3
  • LCpl Michael A. Powell, Atlanta, GA, H&S 1/3
  • LCpl John Winters, Clark, NJ, Bravo 1/3
  • Pfc Jimmy K. Church, Columbus, OH, Bravo 1/3
  • Pfc Keith A. Kahlstorf, Britt, IA, Bravo 1/3
  • Pfc Edward T. O'Donovan, Chicago, IL, Bravo 1/3
  • Pfc Jim J. Walters, Sioux City, IA, Bravo 1/3
  • Pfc Leroy C. Williams, Jacksonville, FL, Bravo 1/3 (Body not recovered)
  • Pvt Monek Weitz, Roxbury, MA, A Btry, 1/12 Marines (Body not recovered)
Private Weitz was a member of an artillery Forward Observer team attached to Bravo 1/3.


The point-of-contact for this memorial is
a Marine buddy,
Robert E. Chatigny
1816 Pamela Lane, Weatherford, Ok 73096
chatig9@aol.com



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With all respect
Jim Schueckler, former CW2, US Army
Ken Davis, Commander, United States Navy (Ret)
Memorial first published on 20 Nov 2001
Last updated 11/26/2006