15 Jan 1999 Donald Troxell and his family attended the same church as my family did, the First United Methodist Church in Shelby, Ohio. He was several years older than I was, but I had a really big pre-teen crush on him. Then he joined the Marine Corps, went to Vietnam, and the next thing we all knew he was headlines in the local newspaper. Two years ago I finally had an opportunity to visit The Wall in Washington, D.C. Don's was the first name that popped into my head, though I had lost several other friends in the Vietnam War. As I touched his name etched into that Wall, all the buried memories of that period of my life came flooding back, and I sat on the cold December ground sobbing like a baby. God bless you, Don Troxell, for giving your life for all of us who could not go. Signed, Kathi (Lucas) McCallum maddog3@earthlink.net

 

A Note from The Virtual Wall In late April 1967 the 1st Marine Division initiated "Operation Union", a search-and-destroy effort aimed at the 21st NVA Regiment and other enemy forces operating in the Quang Nam and Quang Tin Provinces in Military Region 1. The Marines were engaged in heavy fighting throughout the first half of May, effectively destroying the NVA Regiment by mid-month. A follow-on, "Operation Union II", was initiated on 26 May with air assaults into the Que Son Valley with the intention of locating and defeating in detail the remnants of the 21st NVA Regiment. Instead, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, found the 3rd NVA Regiment dug in near Vinh Huy. Fighting continued throughout the afternoon. When the Marines finally overran the last enemy positions at 1630, they counted 118 dead NVA soldiers scattered over the battlefield. The 3rd Battalion lost 38 killed and 82 wounded.

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