Michael joined 3rd Platoon, Delta Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Marines in September of 1968. I joined the platoon in December. Mike was a M60 Machine Gunner. There are a number of slots within a Marine rifle platoon that present a greater danger for those Marines who fill them than any other positions. The first of course is the leadership positions, Platoon Commander, Platoon Sergeant and Squad Leaders. The next would be one of the Radiomen. The enemy knew that where there was a radio there would also be a leader. The third, but usually the first in priority for the enemy, was the Machine Gunners. The enemy feared the Guns and tried to locate and silence them as early in the battle as possible. On February 14, 1969, 3rd Platoon engaged the enemy in fierce combat which was close to being hand to hand. Mike's fellow Gunner Larry Looby was killed in the initial contact with the entrenched enemy. Our Platoon Commander, James Witt, and his Radioman George Cusma went down. James' wounds would prove fatal. Mike moved forward of the platoon and firing from the hip took on the enemy. He was hit twice and went down. When I was able to get to his location he yelled for me to put his gun in his hands. Because of his injuries he could not reach his weapon after falling. I remember that we nearly had to pry the weapon from his hands prior to his being medevaced. Mike was given the Silver Star for his actions that day. Mike was the youngest Marine in our company. I have spoken many times over the past couple of years with Diana Britton, Mike's sister, and she told me that Mike had wanted to be a Marine from the time he was nine or ten. I look back at Mike's photo from that time and he looks so young. He was. I never knew Mike as well as his fellow gun squad members but I do remember his as a good Marine who never refused to follow through on any misson that came our way. We must never forget the sacrifice that Mike made nor should we ever let his memory wane. SEMPER FI Michael on left with Joe Brown, Guns Squad Leader on Hill 37. 3rd Platoon Guns. Michael is first Marine, back row left. Michael and Larry Looby, third Marine from left front row, were mortally wounded along with Lt. James Patrick Witt in the same battle.

 

The President of the United States takes pride in presenting the SILVER STAR MEDAL (posthumously) to LANCE CORPORAL MICHAEL J. WYMAN UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS for service as set forth in the following CITATION: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action while serving as a machine gunner with Company D, 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division, in connection with operations against the enemy in the Republic of Vietnam. On the morning of 14 February 1969, during a company-sized patrol in Quang Nam Province, the point element took the command post of a North Vietnamese Army company by surprise. One enemy soldier was killed and the others hastily retreated to the security of fortified positions under cover of protective fire from a bunker emplacement fifteen meters to the Marines' front. Wounded in the hip after he left his relatively secure rear position to maneuver to the point of heaviest combat, Lance Corporal Wyman resolutely continued to advance through the intense hostile fire to aid his fellow Marines. When he was within five meters of the enemy bunker, he received an injury to his other hip which knocked him to the ground and jarred his weapon loose from his hand. Ignoring his wounds, he attempted to reach his weapon and, unable to do so, calmly directed the accurate fire of his comrades. Subsequently, he was medically evacuated and succumbed to his wounds. His heroic and timely actions inspired all who observed him and were instrumental in his units killing 3 hostile soldiers while overrunning the North Vietnamese position. By his courage, aggressive fighting spirit, and unwavering devotion to duty in the face of grave personal duty, Lance Corporal Wyman upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and of the United States Naval Service. FOR THE PRESIDENT H. W. BUSE, JR. Lieutenant General, U.S. Marine Corps Commanding General, Fleet Marine Force, Pacific

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