28 Mar 2004 Michael LaBianca, John Ross, Dennis Magnotta, and I (Sal Bertuna) hung out at the 76th Street Park. We all decided to join the Marine Corps and go to Viet-Nam in 1968. I went in first because Mike, John Ross, and Dennis Magnotta were not 18 yet. I saw Mike in 1969 coming out of the mess hall in An-Hoa. We talked all that day. He had told me he loved walking point with a M-79 grenade launcher. I went out to the bush the next day. The next time I had information on Mike when I was in Da Nang Hospital. The Marine next to my bed was from Mike's outfit and told me that he was walking point on patrol and found himself in an ambush. He was shot in the shoulder. A Corpsman tried to get to him and was killed. They were pinned down for two hours until they got help. By that time Mike had died. Sal Bertuna s.bertuna@cox.net

 

A Note from The Virtual Wall Alpha Company, 1/5 Marines, lost three men on 09 May 1969: Pfc Gerald L. Call, Aberdeen, MD Pfc Richard D. Cheney, Dorchester, MA Pfc Michael LaBianca, Jackson Heights, NY There is no record of a 1/5 Corpsman killed in action on 09 May, or having died of wounds in the following two weeks. It may be that either Pfc Call or Pfc Cheney died trying to get Pfc LaBianca to cover.

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