26 May 2008 Johnny... Good morning. It's Memorial Day, 2008 and I'm thinking of you. Peggy is coming this week to visit and we are looking forward to seeing her. We have established a very close relationship these last few years. I'm sure we will talk about you while she is here. You are ever in my thoughts... a hero in my eyes. Rest in peace! From his cousin, Fred Prudhomme f.prudhomme@comcast.net

 

A Note from The Virtual Wall Fire Support Bases NEVILLE and RUSSELL were west of Cam Lo, with NEVILLE the westernmost of the two. In late February 1969, NEVILLE was occupied by Golf Btry 3/12 with Hotel Company, 2/4 as a security force. Five miles to the east, FSB RUSSELL had Hotel and Mortar Btries, 3/12, and elements of 2/4 as a security force - primarily Echo 2/4, but also elements of H&S Company. In the early morning hours of 25 Feb 1969 both bases were hit hard by NVA sappers - about 200 from the 246th NVA Regiment at NEVILLE and an equal number from the 27th NVA Regiment at RUSSELL. In each case the attacks began with heavy mortar fire and supporting artillery fire from within the DMZ, followed by a ground attack clearly intended to destroy the artillery pieces in their gun pits. In each case the enemy partially overran the base, and in each case the Marines drove them out again. When the sun rose, the Marines had over three dozen dead and 100+ wounded, while there were 61 enemy bodies inside the two perimeters - but the guns sustained no serious damage and were firing. The 14 Americans killed at FSB NEVILLE were Golf 3/12: HM2 Walter P. Seel, Moorestown, NJ (H&S with Golf Btry) Cpl Jeffrey M. Barron, La Puente, CA (Silver Star) LCpl Thomas H. McGrath, Homewood, IL (Silver Star) Hotel 2/4: Cpl Gerald D. Zawadzki, Brooklyn, OH LCpl Steven V. Garcia, Phoenix, AZ HM3 John M. Sullivan, El Cajon, CA (H&S with Hotel 2/4) Pfc Raymond L. Flint, Skaneateles, NY Pfc Walter L. Lamarr, Sturtevant, WI Pfc Samuel C. Macon, Delray Beach, FL Pfc David A. Mallory, Huntsville, AL Pfc Royce E. Roe, Pewaukee, WI Pfc Carey W. Smith, Doraville, GA Pfc Willie F. Smith, Houston, TX Pfc Michael L. Zappia, Des Moines, IA There were 27 dead Marines at FSB RUSSELL - 18 infantrymen from 2/4 and 9 artillerymen from 3/12. "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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