26 Mar 2008 Nick, you came to our company as a boot Marine and we never knew it as you had the walk and talk of a vet. You were a machine gunner for me and when not in the boonies we would talk about the land of the "big PX". The hooch was our home with all the sandbags and that was all we had on Hill 54. In the hooch with the gun we talked of family, friends and home. You spent so much time talking about your dad and just as much about your girlfriend. I learned so much from you that I raised my chilren, all four of them, I hope in the same manner your dad raised you. The world should have grieved just as I did when I heard of your death so many years ago. The world lost a great human being and I a dear friend. Semper Fi, Nick. From a Marine buddy, John R. Lucas 9279 Taney Road, Manassas, Va. 0110 ptee190@aol.com

 

A Note from The Virtual Wall In May 1967 the 1st Bn, 5th Marines was involved in Operation UNION in the Que Son Valley south of Danang. Battalion Landing Team 1/3 had come ashore on 02 May to assist in the sweeps through the valley (termed Operation BEAVER CAGE). On 10 May the two battalions were engaged in very heavy fighting about 4 kilometers north of Que Son City. Charlie 1/5 joined with three companies from 1/3 Marines in an assault on entrenched North Vietnamese at Hill 110. Although the assault was successful in terms of destroying the NVA force which held Hill 110, 30 Marines and sailors died in the fighting. Eight of the dead were from Charlie 1/5: GySgt Marcelino Rivera-Cruz, Juncos, PR; Cpl Nicholas A. Tague, Fillmore, CA; HN William R. Fowler, Rome, GA, H&S Co w/ C/1/5; LCpl David K. Suapaia, Honolulu, HI; LCpl Fred E. Tate, Hollywood, CA; Pfc Dorian J. Houser, Los Angeles, CA; Pfc Phillip A. O'Brien, Worcester, MA; and Pfc Clarence E. Washington, Natchez, MS. At more or less the same time and two kilometers to the east Alpha 1/5 was moving on Nghi Ha (3) hamlet on the So Chun River. As the Marines began their assault, supporting Air Force F-4s strafed the Company command post, killing 5 Marines and wounding 24 others. Alpha 1/5 was forced to break off their attack in order to evacuate their dead and wounded, including one Marine killed and six wounded by enemy fire. The six dead from Alpha 1/5 were Cpl Aaron G. Glynn, South River, NJ; LCpl Linwood E. Ebron, Raleigh, NC; LCpl Raymond L. Prince, Washington, DC; Pfc Hugh F. Blackburn, Columbia, SC; Pfc Roger W. Chasteen, Crestwood, MO; and Pfc Billy J. Lawton, Allendale, SC.

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