11 Dec 2005 William Robb Stall was a life time resident of Midland, born and raised. He was the third child of five children. He was active in the Midland High School Band as well as a holder of many school honors and he participated in many other school clubs and functions. He was a two year editor of the school newspaper, quite an honor for a student body of over a 1,000 students. He was a 1965 graduate of Midland High School. He attended the University of Texas at Austin for a year before joining the Marine Corps. He enlisted in February 1967. While in ITR, he married Florence Ann Yeager, his high school sweetheart, in the Chapel at Camp Pendleton. He was killed in this third month in Vietnam, the victim of a boopy trap. He is buried at the Resthaven Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Midland, Texas. He is remembered by his family and friends. His name is on a plaque at the Midland County Courthouse and he is also remembered by the Permian Basin Vietnam Veterans' Memorial located near the Midland International Airport. From a PBVVM representative, Billy M. Brown bmbrown@grandecom.net

 

A Note from The Virtual Wall The 3rd Bn, 4th Marines' Command Chronology for January 1968 contains an extensive description of a bitter fight which occurred near the destroyed Gia Binh village about 4 kilometers east-northeast of Con Thien (Hill 158) on 18 January. On that day Company "M" (Mike 3/4) was directed to establish blocking positions northeast of Con Thien, while Company "L" (Lima 3/4) conducted a sweep north toward the Mike 3/4 positions. At 0945 Lima made contact with what appeared to be a reinforced NVA platoon. Lima 3/4 deployed against the NVA, only to encounter very heavy fire which resulted in immediate casualties and which effectively cut off and pinned down Lima's advance elements. Mike 3/4 was directed to send a platoon to move up on Lima's flank. By noontime NVA artillery firing from within the DMZ had joined the fray, as had Marine artillery and air, and the Mike 3/4 platoon had joined on Lima's position and engaged the enemy - but it was evident that NVA reinforcements had also arrived and it now appeared a company-sized or larger NVA force was involved. A second platoon from Mike 3/4 was directed against the NVA's flank and succeeded in flushing the NVA from their fighting positions into the open. As the afternoon progressed the 3/4 Marines managed to consolidate their positions, while India 3/4 and a company from the 3/3 Marines were brought in to protect the Lima and Mike 3/4 positions from flanking attacks. By late afternoon the fighting had tapered off; the NVA withdrew toward the DMZ while Lima and Mike 3/4 withdrew to the Battalion perimeter, bringing their dead and wounded with them. India 3/4 and the 3/3 company swept the battlefield as Lima and Mike withdrew, finding 162 dead NVA soldiers. The action cost the lives of ten men from Lima 2/4 (including an artillery Forward Observer), while one Corpsman in the Mike 3/4 position was killed by NVA artillery. The eleven men were 3rd Bn, 4th Marines 2ndLt Thomas J. Hoare, Bellerose, NY (Silver Star) HM3 Cecil D. Belt, Duncan, OK, Corpsman H&S Co with L/3/4 HN Jeffrey S. Aker, Covington, KY, Corpsman H&S Co LCpl Robert M. McConnell, Mansfield, OH Pfc Tyrone Brown, Newark, NJ Pfc Samuel Bruce, Jacksonville, FL Pfc Carl R. Davis, Manchester, MO Pfc Michael Kane, Canoga Park, CA Pfc John S. Kmiec, Chicago, IL Pfc Theodore O'Brien, New York, NY I Btry, 3rd Bn, 12th Marines LCpl William R. Stall, Midland, TX, F/O Team w/ 3/4

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