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Jimmy Ellison Tolliver
Staff Sergeant
VMO-6, MAG-36, 1ST MAW, III MAF United States Marine Corps Cromona, Kentucky January 05, 1940 to February 16, 1968 JIMMY E TOLLIVER is on the Wall at Panel 39E, Line 67 |
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The Virtual Wall staff rarely sponsors a memorial to men that we did not personally know. On this day, however, we are sponsoring five of them ... for five Marines who died while trying to recover a 3rd Force Recon Company patrol force that was engaged with a far superior enemy force. Four of the Marines were aircrewmen with Marine Observation Squadron 6; the fifth was a radioman with Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 4th Marines. Although the circumstances of their deaths are spelled out in some detail on the Box Score Memorial (linked below), Captain Bobby Galbreath, 1st Lt Paul Jensen, SSgt Jimmy Tolliver, and Cpl Harry Schneider were aboard a UH-1E which made a desperate attempt to extract three Box Score team members who were surrounded by North Vietnamese Army regulars. Their effort failed; the UH-1E was shot down as it lifted off and all four crewmen died in the crash . That they failed to accomplish the near-impossible in no way detracts from their courage and determination. The Box Score PatrolThe events surrounding the Box Score patrol's engagement and the efforts to extract the team are a glowing example of Marine heroism under fire and were recognized as such at the time. Five of eight Box Score Team members, four aircrewmen from VMO-6, and one infantryman from Bravo 1/4 Marines died on 16 February 1968 and a number of others were wounded. The actions of the men involved in the engagement were recognized by one Medal of Honor, three Navy Crosses, seven Silver Stars, and two Bronze Stars.The Virtual Wall takes pride in honoring the Americans who died in the Box Score engagement, and through them the men who survived. Details of the engagement are published on the Box Score Memorial PageThe following Marines are honored on The Virtual Wall:
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