16 Mar 2007 I served with LCpl Donald E. Young, 2090141 USMC, in DaNang. We were stationed on Sierra Hill adjacent to Route #5. We performed daily "road sweeps" together clearing for booby-traps placed on the road and bridges by the VC. LCPL Young was a happy-go-lucky sort of guy with a great sense of humor. He was killed shortly after I rotated back to Chu Lai. Donald was only 20 years old. From a friend, Mark A. Weinberger maw2078826@yahoo.com

 

A Note from The Virtual Wall Operation ORANGE was a search-and-destroy operation on the north and south banks of the Vu Gia River at Thuong Duc in preparation for the establishment of an Army Special Forces emplacement at Ha Tan just outside Thuong Duc village. Thirteen men died in the 02 April assault on Ngoc Kinh (2), a tiny hamlet on the south bank of the Vu Gia River, with 5 other Marines killed by mines and boobytraps during the operation. The 13 men killed at Ngoc Kinh (2) were A Co, 3rd Eng Bn LCpl Donald E. Young, Baltimore, MD (attached B/1/3) B Co, 1st Bn, 3rd Marines SSgt Thurman W. Owen, Wichita Falls, TX Sgt Donald R. Burton, Coatesville, PA Cpl Dale L. Courchane, Wenatchee, WA Cpl Julian C. Cuellar, San Antonio, TX LCpl Paul A. Haines, Canton, OH LCpl Alexander Menzies, Walworth, NY (Silver Star) LCpl Daniel J. Piotrowski, Jackson, MI (Silver Star) LCpl David G. Russell, Salem, OR LCpl Ralph M. Williams, Chicago, IL Pfc Richard H. Wright, Halstead, KS Pfc Weldon D. Moss, Ethete, WY Pfc Feliberto Villa, Ingleside, TX Lance Corporal Claude G. Lebas received the Navy Cross for his actions during the battle; the Citation for his award gives a sense of the circumstances: "heavy automatic-weapons and mortar fire ... [the] enemy fire was so intense that his covering force was driven back ..."

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