02 Dec 2007 I have always loved you. I have never forgotten you. I will see you again. Regina From his widow, Regina jade@tellcon.net

 

26 Dec 2007 Sergeant Miller, We served in the same company, just different squads. It is hard to believe that it has been almost 38 years ago since our bodies and minds were in complete unison to stop the enemy and remain bodily intact in the process. It seems we all were changed either in body or mind by the events that were about to unfold. Today is December 25, 2007, the day after Christmas. On this day in 1969 I left Camp Eagle for the field, what an eye opener. We had fire fights but it wasn't until March 21, 1970 that we had our first major engagement. On that day we lost Stephen A. Golsh and John T. Gutekunst. Our lives were now changed forever. On April 30, 1970 while clearing a red ball, Donnie Horton flopped back to rest and landed on an anti-tank mine. I can remember that there was little left to put in the body bag. He was the LT's RTO man and a fun guy. Then on May 5, 1970 we walked into an NVA ambush, Ivory Lee McKinney and you faced the initial on-slaught and prevented us from receiving worse casualties. You tried to assist Ivory and lost your life in the process. Ee all like to think we would have acted the same, but YOU DID. Your fellow soldiers know what you did and will honor you till our passing days. On May 8, 1970 we lost Peter F. Nolan and Wayne K. Smith. On the early morning hours of May 16, 1970 our NDP was over-run and we lost David L. Christopherson, David L. Jones, John R. Mariani and Billy Ray McCullough. Of the original 42 men, by the end of May only Roy Larison and myself remained in the field, our company had met with serious injuries. Because of injuries, our platoon leader was never a constant, in fact, I served as platoon leader a few days because there were no Lieutenants left. I had logged down the list as follows: LT Lopresti, LT Richardson, SSG Howell, LT Lippy, SSG Jones, SFC Manning, LT Hanley, SGT Andy, SGT Henson, SGT Trickey, LT Hunsicker, LT Gill, LT Hill, SSG Greer, and LT Townsend. LT James Thomas Hill later became our company commander and retired in December 2005. He was given his FOURTH STAR when he retired. Hard to believe we served with a decorated general. These past three years via the internet, we have been able to communicate and inform beyond my wildest dreams. You have been honored by having a widow who truly loved you and supported you. She openly admits her vices after your death, but we never will know how we would have acted. She truly loved you and has now gotten her life back on track as you would have wanted her to. She has a large family you would be proud to be part of. I will never forget the past and all who were part of it. I thank you for your service and bravery, it was an honor to serve with you. Henry A. (Hank) Trickey Jr. 2231 Archer Road, Clifton Springs, New York 14432 hanktrickey@frontiernet.net

 

A Note from The Virtual Wall Throughout the war the A Shau Valley in western South Vietnam provided the North Vietnamese with a defendable route for infiltrating soldiers and supplies into Thua Thien and Quang Nam Provinces. Several river valleys which intersected with the A Shau's eastern ridgeline provided convenient access to the Hue area some 30 kilometers to the east. A twin-peaked hill mass overlooks the juncture of these rivers where they combine to form the Song Bo River. The North Vietnamese commanders were aware of the importance of the hill mass and had a battalion of their troops entrenched on the peaks. On 16 April 1970 the 1st Bn, 327th Infantry was sent to capture the hill preparatory to placing an artillery base on it. The two peaks were captured after three days of heavy fighting and Fire Support Base Veghel was built. The the area around FSB Veghel was marked by continuous engagements as the NVA attempted to bypass the FSB and the Americans sought to keep the cork in the bottleneck. On 05 May, the NVA assaulted US outposts on Hills 714 and 882 northwest of FSB Veghel. Six soldiers from 2nd Bn, 502nd Infantry died in the successful defense of the two outposts: A Company, emplaced on Hill 882: SSG Green E. Miller, Enterprise, AL (Bronze Star "V") CPL Ivory L. McKinney, Pompano Beach, FL C Company, emplaced on Hill 714: SFC William E. Malcolm, Toledo, OH SSG Francisco T. Carvajal, New York, NY SGT Gerald A. Kulm, Ritzville, WA SGT Vernon L. Okland, Lake Mills, IA

Contact Us

© Copyright 1997-2019 www.VirtualWall.org, Ltd ®(TM)

Last update 08/15/2019.