1 Aug 2004 Johnnie Bruce or Bruce as his friends knew him was from Odessa, Texas. He attended Permian High School as a freshman and sophomore, then the Schriener Institute in Kerrville, Texas in 1963-64 before dropping out of school to go into the service. He joined the Marine Corps from Fort Worth, Texas. Bruce was in the 13th month of his tour when he was killed in an ambush. He was due to complete his tour within a few days. He is buried at Sunset Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Odessa, near many of the other Odessans who perished in Vietnam. May his sacrifice never be forgotten. 17 Jul 2006 Johnnie attended the Schriener Institute in Kerrville, Texas in 1963-64. At the time Schriener was a military school with high school and junior college. The picture was provided by the Schriener Alumuni Association and is from the 1963-64 school year book. It is apparent that Johnnie did not return to school after that school year and he moved to Fort Worth and joined the USMC in 1965. He was married and the father of a son. He had been home to Odessa, Texas on a 30 day leave for Christmas 1967 and had returned to complete his tour in early January 1968. His unit was due to return to Okinawa for a re-staging. According to his obituary in the Odessa American, his wife stated he did not want to go back to Vietnam, but felt it was his duty. He is remembered on the Permian Basin Vietnam Veterans' Memorial. From a PBVVM representative, Billy M. Brown 4015 Melody Lane, Odessa, Texas 79762 bmbrown@grandecom.net

 

Notes from The Virtual Wall There was heavy enemy activity in the vicinity of Danang Air Base during the first days of the Tet Offensive at the end of January 1968, continuing into early February. Combined Action Company ECHO, part of the 2nd CA Group, had small units in place in several villages covering the southern approaches to Danang. One of those units, CAP ECHO 4, was in Lo Giang hamlet, just south of the Cam Le Bridge over the Cau Do River. Early on 08 Feb 1968 ECHO 4 was taken under attack by a mixed NVA/VC force seemingly intent on attacking the Danang Air Base ... ECHO 4 was unfortunate enough to be in the path of a regimental-size unit. While part of the NVA/VC force laid siege to ECHO 4 the bulk of the force moved north to and forded the Cau Do River east of the Cam Le Bridge. A second Combined Action unit, CAP ECHO 3, was in place on the northern side on the river; it too was directly in the NVA/VC regiment's path. Fortunately for ECHO 3, the delay at ECHO 4 caused the NVA/VC to reach the river after sunrise, allowing a pair of A-1 Skyraiders the opportunity to disrupt the attack and force the enemy to disperse. Meanwhile, ECHO 4 was getting desperate - they were running out of ammunition, supplementing their limited supplies with AK-47s and ammunition from dead NVA/VC soldiers. The ECHO Company Commander, Captain Howard L. Joselane, had directed formation of a relief force drawn from his other platoons. A 17-man force, led by Captain Joselane, departed ECHO Company headquarters at Hoa Vang by truck, crossed the Cam Le Bridge, and started on foot up the dirt road toward the ECHO 4 compound. As the relief force approached a tree line surrounding Lo Giang hamlet, it came nose-to-nose with 250-300 NVA/VC troops - a situation with only one possible outcome. Captain Joselane and his Marines fought valiantly, but they were hopelessly out-numbered and out-gunned. Captain Joselane's last radio reports to the ECHO headquarters at Hoa Vang were "... we're getting chewed up ... we're not going to get out ... there are too many ... they're all over us ... no way out. Don't send anyone else in here ... Tell my wife I love her..." Fading daylight, uncertainty with respect to the exact location of the relief force, and limited manpower caused the 2nd CA Group headquarters to decide against sending in further forces before sunrise on the 9th. One survivor of the ambush made his way back to Hoa Vang. When the second reaction force went in, they found one badly wounded survivor, twelve dead, and three missing. One of the missing Marines returned to friendly control; he had been captured but was able to escape his captors during the chaos of the fighting. The other two were gone. The final disposition of the 17 men who had set out to relieve ECHO 4 follows: Killed in action: Capt Howard L. Joselane, Chicago, IL, Commanding Officer, CA Co ECHO SSgt Frank Ramos, Youngstown, OH Sgt Michele Basso, North White Plains, NY Cpl Pete F. Cruz, Chualar, CA HM3 Gregory A. Gifford, Billings, MT Cpl Lee C. Kinney, Welch, MN LCpl Johnnie B. Jackson, Fort Worth, TX LCpl Arthur W. Lamorte, Baltimore, MD LCpl Jimmy A. Metcalf, Dallas, TX LCpl John R. Murphy, Yorktown Heights, NY LCpl Daniel E. Sirianni, Buffalo, NY HN Charles E. Johnson, Toledo, OR, recently joined from Golf 2/7 Captured - died in captivity: SSgt Dennis W. Hammond, Detroit, MI SSgt Joseph S. Zawtocki, Utica, NY Captured - escaped and returned to US control: LCpl Don Talbot Survived ambush: Sgt Ed Palmer, evaded from ambush area 08 Feb Cpl Greeno, wounded, recovered 09 Feb By late afternoon the ECHO 4 Marines had been lifted out of their compound by USAF helicopter; although all 11 Marines and their Popular Force comrades were wounded, none had been killed. Carl "Mike" Readinger, who was manning the radios at Hoa Vang on the 8th and who went in with the second reaction force on the morning of the 9th, has prepared a description of the action as he remembers it ... you can read his story of the ECHO 4 Reaction Force As noted above, Dennis Hammond and Joseph Zawtocki had been captured, and both died in captivity. SSgt Zawtocki's remains were repatriated in 1985. In 1993 a reporter by the name of Jim Six obtained from Vietnamese shopkeepers some 450 dog tags. While the manufacture and sale of counterfeit dogtags is common in present-day Vietnam, the ones obtained by Jim Six appeared to be old and there were no duplicates among them. One of the tags carried Dennis Hammond's name and service number. In the spring of 2001, Mr. Six was able to deliver the dogtag to Hammond's sister, Mrs. Carlene Tackitt. On 22 April 2004 The Virtual Wall was advised that Staff Sergeant Dennis Hammond's remains have been recovered, repatriated, and positively identified. According to the information received, SSgt Hammond will be buried in Bremond, Texas, beside his mother and father, on 22 May 2004.

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