20 Nov 2007 I was serving with this true American Hero when he died. We Marines were pinned down during a decoy operation probing NVA positions when several of the point men were wounded on a ledge below our position. "Doc Raymond" charged ahead and down to them without a care for his personal safety and against all of our urging for him to sit tight until we could evaluate and control the situation. He was himself wounded making his way to the men but bandaged and stopped the bleeding of the wounded before he attended to himself. We made several rescue attempts resulting in more wounded before we finally were able to get them all off the ledge. We were pinned down for hours and could not use choppers to medivac because the choppers would have been shot down on top of us. Unfortunately, "Doc Raymond" died before he could be moved to a pick up point. All of the others he treated survived. Stephen Shaw P O Box 853, Ashland, Virginia 23005 sshaw853@juno.com

 

A Note from The Virtual Wall During the first three weeks of September 1970 the 2/7 Marines were engaged around and on Hill 845, about 11 kilometers east-southeast of the An Hoa airfield. Operation IMPERIAL LAKE was directed against the 3rd NVA Battalion as well as Viet Cong units, all of whom were holed up in a series of caves. The Marines were forced to move along very steep slopes, pierced at intervals by steep-sided draws which were occupied by NVA/VC troops who operated in small groups, using sniper fire rather than engaging in larger fights. Quoting from the Chronology, "The enemy snipers were expert riflemen and succeeded in killing 3 U.S. fighting men and wounding 12 during the period 5 September through 12 September." The snipers killed two men on 06 September, Cpl Guillermo Valle of New York, NY (Silver Star) and LCpl Robert L. Porter of Enid, Oklahoma. Petty Officer Raymond was shot on 08 September. As far as is known, the 12 wounded all survived. "You guys are the Marine's doctors - There's none better in the business than a Navy Corpsman ..." -- Lieutenant General "Chesty" Puller -- Visit John Dennison's Medics on the Wall memorial which honors the Army Medics and Navy Corpsmen who died in Vietnam.

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