26 Feb 2007 When I was wounded at Con Thien, Micheal was the first one to come to my aid. He was very good at his job and I felt comfortable with him. Once I was stable, I asked him to go attend the other person and help the Corpsman as he was worse hit than myself. That is the last time I saw him alive. When I came back from the hospital to Con Thien the first thing I heard was that we lost Doc. I was so saddened by the news that I wish I could of been there to help him. I think of him often and cherish those thoughts. From a friend, William Gayler 295 Edgehill Drive, Fruit Heights, Utah 84037 gaylerwilliam769@msn.com

 

A Note from The Virtual Wall The 1/1 Marines Command Chronology for November 1967 contains the following entry: "26 NOV - Company A, while on patrol to the northeast of Con Thien, engaged a reinforced NVA platoon. Company A received 20-30 rounds of 60mm mortar and 40-50 rounds of 82mm mortar along with automatic weapons and small arms fire. Company D was sent to cover the extraction of Company A. Friendly casualties were 7 KIA, 15 WIA (MEDEVAC), and 13 WIANE. NVA casualties were 6 KIA (C) and 19 KIA (P)." The seven men killed in the action were Cpl John B. Allen, Philadelphia, PA Cpl Richard P. Houston, Eastlake, OH Cpl Garry L. Ihrig, Parkville, MO Cpl James L. Melvin, East Boxford, MA (Silver Star) HM3 Michael J. Thirkettle, Whittier, CA (Silver Star) (H&S with Alpha 1/1) Pfc Paul M. Dumin, Southington, CT Pfc Charles P. Lirot, Bloomington, IN "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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