The US Naval Forces Vietnam Command History contains the following entry: "The most serious incident reported by CB units occurred on the last day of the month at 1445H on a waterway near Kien Binh (WS 406 036) where the bodies of five USN Seabees were found. All the bodies contained gunshot and fragmentation wounds. Investigation of witnesses disclosed that five U.S. personnel armed with 3 M-16s and one pistol had been sighted in a Boston Whaler by Vietnamese personnel an hour and a half before, and ARVN units reported seeing U.S. personnel in a firefight in the same area. A Vietnamese eyewitness account indicated two VC sampans engaged the whaler, which was later found abandoned, with grenade and AK-47 fire on the Kinh Thot Not Canal. The five Seabees were attached to NMCB 74 and traveling from Cho Moi to Binh Thuy for minor medical treatment." The five Seabees from Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 74 killed on New Year's Eve were PO2 Jerry Baxter Edmonds, Crossville, Tennessee; PO3 Harold E. Asher, Tulsa, Oklahoma; CN Edgar Peter Beck, Gowanda, New York; CN John Frank Neubauer, Mount Vernon, New York; and CN Wayne Sterling Rushton, Eastlake, Ohio. One other unit member died during the battalion's November 1970 to April 1971 deployment. He was killed when he was riding on a radio tower being moved by helicopter when his safety harness broke and he died as a result of the fall. He was: PO3 Larry Albert Dahms, Garwin Iowa (Nov 17, 1970) John was born in Mount Vernon New York. He grew up on High Street and attended Hamilton grade school, and Nichols Junior High (High & Bleecker Streets) before graduating from Mount Vernon High School and entering the Naval Reserves. His first 2 year enlistment was 11 December 1968 when he joined the Reserve Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 19, Division 3-11, New Rochelle, NY. Then he entered on Active Duty for another 2 years, on June 29 1970 in US Naval Station, Brooklyn, N.Y. where he processed until July 20, 1970. He was released to the Mobile Construction Battalion 74, based in Gulfport Mississippi where he reported for active duty on 31 July 1970. John and MCB-74 deployed to Vietnam effective 6 November 1970. According to his drummer, John Michael, (USN, PO2), 'Johnny' was the lead singer in the Battalion band. They had a blast playing the songs from the sixties. They played several times in the EM club at their home base of Bien Hoa as well as at some of the battalion's detachment sites whenever transportation could be arranged, which usually ended up being on a Chinook helicopter. They had fun practicing & performing together up until the day Johnny was killed and they never played again. At the time of his death, John was survived by his parents, Annette DeGloria Neubauer (1922 - 2011), North High Street, Mount Vernon and Frank Neubauer, Kim Avenue, Mount Vernon, New York. The obituary for John's mother Annette lists his middle name as Francis. It is unknown where John was buried - - The Virtual Wall, August 28, 2014

Contact Us

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

Last update 08/15/2019