Michael Douglas GrayPrivate First ClassH&S CO, FLSG ALPHA, FORCE LOG CMD United States Marine Corps 31 October 1948 - 06 March 1968 Temple, Texas Panel 43E Line 019 |
|
The database page for Michael Douglas Gray
I was on patrol on the 82 boat when I got a letter from my mom telling me that Michael had been killed in Vietnam. We didn't know each other well, you couldn't even call us friends. I even had a hard time remembering his face after reading his name. He was a year younger than me and we didn't run with the same people. When we got back to An Thoi I went through some old pictures and there he was standing in the background in front of the new high school. Looking at that picture of Michael and re-reading my mom's letter I saw the pain my mother must have had to write it. When I got back to Temple I went to Michael's grave and a few others and I found that our small town had eight young men taken from us by the war. I had changed, the town had changed, and my friends had changed. Not one of my friends had enlisted or got drafted. As I visit Temple from time to time I go by each grave site and say "thank you". I can not answer the question that has nagged me for more than thirty years, I don't know why I came back and they didn't. I do know you can love someone you have never met, and a friendship can grow even it the other person is gone. Michael and I are good friends now and I still have his picture and I am honored to have known them all.
Walter Weddell |
A Note from The Virtual WallOn 06 March 1968 a C-123 from the 311th ACS crashed after being hit by enemy fire while making a troop lift into the Khe Sanh combat base. PFC Michael D. Gray was one of the men aboard the aircraft. A description of the incident and the names of those who died in the crash can be found on The Virtual Wall's |
The point-of-contact for this memorial is a friend and comrade, Walter W. Weddell www143@earthlink.net |
Top of Page
www.VirtualWall.org Back to |
With all respect
Jim Schueckler, former CW2, US Army
Ken Davis, Commander, United States Navy (Ret)
Memorial first published on 6 Nov 2003
Last updated 07/10/2006