SP4 John Gregory Strachota, Milwaukee, WI on www.VirtualWall.org The Virtual Wall® Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall

9 June, 2021

Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 52nd Infantry Regiment was on Fire Support Base STINSON with one part of the Company out in the field on a 'raid' of select targets. Bravo Company was at map grid coordinates BS517907 night ambushes set up. Charlie Company, Echo Reconnaissance Company at other locations and E Company (-) on STINSON and a section of Echo Company Mortars on another Landing Zone Chippewa.

The PLANS for next day according to the Daily Staff Journal for the Battalion was for A Company to be on STINSON for training, base development and security and to act as a reaction force. They had 88 men scheduled for next morning to be passengers on helicopter to be airlifted, with their pickup zone of STINSON, landing zones in 6 places around STINSON.

Their radio call sign "Forgive Roads 44, on radio frequency 63.00, they were to conduct raids, ambushes, and Eagle Flights from STINSON on a mission basis. A Company, 1st Platoon Commander and Alpha Company, 2nd Platoon Commander will conduct an Eagle Flight in the morning and return to STINSON by foot (Eagle Flight was known as a Combat Assault using enough helicopters to move an Infantry Company from one location to another).

Company A began their Airlift from FSB STINSON to 6 areas of operation. Starting at 7:07 AM at 1st Pickup Zone on STINSON, the Company began to move to the field. It took 6 lifts and 6 landings ending at 09:57 AM for 2 hours and 50 minutes to get them out to the field. John was in the last lift.

While moving from the last insertion of the morning's EAGLE FLIGHT airlift, which was Lift 6 to BS552769, back to STINSON, the A Company (-) element received Small Arms Fire from the NE and SE, and requested a Dust Off for one US wounded with a gun shot wound to the arm.

They then commenced to sweep the area (probably this is where John took the point) and continued to receive sniper fire; gunships were requested but the element was unable to call and use Artillery fire as the villages were too close. DustOff 88, a medivac helicopter arrived on station at 1:50 PM but awaited for gunships to arrive so they could help extract that wounded in the arm man.

While in the position of waiting, John was struck with a sniper bullet in the chest, causing a sucking chest wound. DustOff 88 attempted to pick up the now two wounded men without gunships on station but took small arms fire from ground when coming in so they pulled out. Musket 38 (gunship) reported in at 1410 and provided cover to DO 88 and extraction of the two wounded was completed at 2:10 PM to the 27th Surgical Hospital and 97th General Hospital, both located at Chu Lai, South Vietnam. John, however, was declared dead on arrival (DOA) at the 27th Surgical.

SP4 John Gregory Strachota was survived by his mother Margaret E Hellminger Strachota (1917-1984), sisters Susan, Mary, Terese, Elizabeth (Beth), Amy and Kathleen M. (Strachota) Earsley (1941-2018), and brother David. John was preceded in death by his father Reuben Kilian Strachota (1912-1965).

John is buried, along with his parents, in Holy Cross Cemetery and Mausoleum, Milwaukee, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin.

- - The Virtual Wall, 9 June 2021