SwiftVets.com

[carpro]

These men were from Alpha Co. 3RD Recon Bn., my old unit. Although they died over a year before I arrived in country, it is good to know they are coming home.

Semper Fi


http://www.military.com/NewsContent/0,13319,FL_vietnam_050905,00.html?ESRC=marine.nl

Missing Vietnam Servicemen To Be Buried
Associated Press
May 9, 2005

WASHINGTON - Marine Sgt. James Neil Tycz and three other U.S. servicemen were killed on Hill 665 near Khe Sanh, Vietnam on May 9, 1967, close to the Laos border, in a battle with North Vietnamese troops. It was too dangerous to recover their bodies, so for decades, they were listed as "killed in action-body not recovered."

But this year, the military informed the families that it had finally identified the remains. On Tuesday, the 38th anniversary of their deaths, three of the men will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery. A fourth man was buried last month, but will be honored at the ceremony.

Tycz, who died at 22, was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross for extraordinary heroism, led a seven-man reconnaissance team into enemy territory, where members came under fire from a North Vietnamese Army unit of between 30 men and 50 men.

Tycz was just 5 feet 9 inches tall and 125 pounds when he joined the military, recalled his older brother, Phillip Dale Tycz.

"He had a high voice," said Tycz, who now lives in Plano, Texas. "It was hard for us at home to picture him as a sergeant. In movies, these are big guys. He wasn't a take-charge-type kid. He was very humble."

The Navy Cross citation says that when a hand grenade landed near one of the seriously wounded Marines, Tycz "courageously and with complete disregard for his own personal safety moved forward, picked up the grenade and attempted to throw it back at the enemy." But the grenade exploded after going just a short distance, critically wounding Tycz.

For several years after his family got word of his death, relatives held out hope he might still be alive because no body had been recovered.

"When the troops were coming back, and it was on TV all the time, there was a lump in your heart that maybe you'd see him," Tycz's brother said.

The family of another serviceman from that group, 20-year-old Navy corpsman Malcolm Miller of Tampa, Fla., went through a similar emotional journey.

"We held out hope for a long time," said Miller's older sister, Sandy Keheley of Madison, Ga. "My father kept writing letters trying to get confirmation. In the '80s, we finally decided it had really happened. We had to accept it."

In Miller's last letter to the family, he complained, "Don't y'all love me anymore? I haven't received any mail from any of you." The family had been writing, Keheley said, but Miller was in the backcountry, where mail had not gotten through.

The sister of another missing serviceman, Marine 2nd Lt. Heinz Ahlmeyer Jr., was stunned when the military informed her that it had identified his remains.

"I did not expect them ever at this point to find it," said Irene Healea, who lives in Watertown, Tenn. "If he had been killed, and the body hadn't been recovered, we're looking at a place where there are scavenger animals. Would you really expect them to find what was left?"

Ahlmeyer, who was 23 when he died, grew up in Pearl River, N.Y., about 30 miles north of New York City, and played soccer at the State University at New Paltz. An award in his name is given annually at the school.

The fourth serviceman, Marine Lance Cpl. Samuel Sharp Jr., of San Jose, Calif., was buried in his hometown last month.

"It's been hard, like there's still something missing," said a sister, Janet Caldera, of Spokane, Wash. "Until you have him come back, you still wonder if he was really killed. You have that question in the back of your head. We never thought we'd have the remains come back. It's kind of a miracle to us."

Caldera recalls getting a note during English class in 1967 telling her to report to the principal's office, and then being sent home. As she turned the corner, she saw a Marine vehicle in front of the house.

"My dad collapsed when he heard the remains weren't coming home," Caldera said. "I think that was the hardest part, that he wouldn't be coming home."
_________________
"If he believes his 1971 indictment of his country and his fellow veterans was true, then he couldn't possibly be proud of his Vietnam service."

[Navy_Navy_Navy]

Thank God these are home.

Welcome home, big brothers. I hope all your letters finally caught up with you - the ones on paper and the ones that came in on the prayer lines.

I know you must feel this rather acutely, carpro - some of your own. Thank you for posting it.
_________________
~ Echo Juliet ~
Altering course to starboard - On Fire, Keep Clear
Navy woman, Navy wife, Navy mother

[carpro]

Some info you won't get from the newspaper.

Team Breaker was a seven man patrol working 9 miles NW of Khe Sanh..

Their first night on patrol they were attacked at a little after midnight. The firefight lasted til noon of the following day. These four Marines were killed . The rest were wounded.

Two attempts were made to pick them up while it was still dark. The first CH46 had 3 af it's 4 crewmen wounded. The second 46 had 1 crewman and an onboard corpsman wounded. The pilot was killed.

A rescue attempt was mounted by a volunteer 6 man recon team. On their first attempt at landing the helicopter was shot up so bad , it barely made it back to Khe Sanh. The six Marines immediately boarded another CH 46 and tried again. Again it was almost shot out of the sky and had to return to base with fuel and hydraulic leaks everywhere. It barely made it
Some of the Marines in the rescue team wept in frustration. They had friends on team Breaker.

Eventually the three survivors were extracted with the help of Spooky , fixed wing aircraft attacks, and several huey gunships.

When other Marines returned for the bodies, they were gone.

The return of their remains after 38 years will provide closure for a lot of relatives and Marines.
_________________
"If he believes his 1971 indictment of his country and his fellow veterans was true, then he couldn't possibly be proud of his Vietnam service."