updated: October 23, 2009 (hit "REFRESH" for updates and to load stubborn pics)
Home Gun Belt St. Joseph the Worker Award
"it is the Eyes that will tell you where a Marine has been"
“
He that outlives this day and comes safe home
. … will yearly on the vigil feast his [friends]
. … He’ll remember
. … what feats [they] did that day. ”
-William Shakespeare, “Henry V”
"The experiences were as different
as the number of people who took part in history being made."
just one story in " The Aging Process " and life in " Rocket Alley "
Cpl. Warren Wilkosz
2381101
U. S. M. C.
Served 20 years in the United States Marine Corps from 31 Aug 67 - 5 May 70
Marines are often copied and imitated, but if you want to be a Marine you have to join the Marines.
If everyone could get in, it would not be the Marines.
USMC K-BAR
Marines get on ships and planes and go die,
they fight not for a flag or country but for the Marine in the next fighting hole,
something most people neither know or can comprehend.
Boot Camp ...how is starts
...first you need to Earn The Title of ...United States Marine
Platoon 3063 ...one day @ a time
I joined the Marines on the Buddy Plan w/ St. Joseph High School Graduate
Mike Roche
After ITR, Infantry Training Regiment we would meet up again in 1969 on Hill 55 in the Nam and again in Bangkok Thailand on R & R
Graduation Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, California 1967
National Defense Medal
(aka Fire Watch ribbon in that
everyone got one in boot camp)
Infantry Training
Regiment
...starting to Mature & feel like a Marine
III Marine Amphibious Force
By order of the Commandant of the Marine Corps you are to report to the Fleet Marine Force Pacific.
Vietnam Service Medal w/ 4
Battle Stars
Vietnam Campaign Medal w/1960-
For Marines in 1968, their campaign started with a written order to report to the Fleet Marine Force Pacific via the Staging Battalion, Camp Pendleton California. Staging included 6 weeks plus of refresher combat training geared to Southeast Asia. Our destination was no secret. I received my orders at an Army School, Marine Barracks Fort Lee, Virginia. Army Soldiers graduating from schools battalion also received Vietnam orders. Many soldiers broke into tears, the Marines responded: "Get a grip on yourself Army Dude, history is being made, let's be part of it."
Republic of Vietnam
2 tours, 19 months in country 1968 - 70
Mag
-11 Armory OMR
Da Nang Airbase aka " Rocket Alley "
& life in " the Crouch, the Suck "
( facing Mag-11 Armory, Da Nang Airbase ) ( 122 mm Rocket Crater )
...Timing can be everything - weeks later, exact same spot as above with 122mm Rocket Crater.
In the rear with the gear was no fun & I despised it. Loading and unloading trucks of supplies was a common duty in that we had an extra Armorer. I would come to volunteer for every & any assignment to get in the fresh air of the countryside from Guard Duty, Convoys, Courier Runs, riding shotgun on supply Runs throughout the DaNang area & especially volunteering for the 5th Counter Insurgency Platoon.
...my view from the Armory is Phoup Thong Village aka Dog Patch w/ hill 327 in the background
5th Counter Insurgency Platoon,
Mag - 11
A "Bastard Platoon" attached to "C" Company 1st MP Bn.
Quang Nam Province
The 5th Mobile
Counter Insurgency Platoon was attached to Charlie Company
1st MP Battalion and conducted sweeps, guarded bridges, manned bunkers,
escorted
convoys and provided medical attention for the people in the Villages, Hamlets,
and
and Refugee camps surrounding Da Nang. The 5th platoon did it's part in
fighting
communism in an area of the world where the
Southern Cross
is used for
navigation.
1st Marine Division Patch
...Quang Nam Province was under control
of the 1st. Marine Division. The Bastard 5th Platoon attached to "Charlie
Company 1st MP Battalion who was attached to FLC, the Forced Logistics Command,
III Marine Amphibious Force
General Order, "repeat all calls from the guard house further than your own"
with the sound of " Rockets Rockets Rockets " the word would be repeated through the area, "5th Platoon on the road, 5th Platoon on the road" as the 5th Platoon assembled. I would run & meet w/ radio operator Crawford & Lt. Palicki our Platoon Commander at Mag-11's Command Bunker. After receiving orders we would assemble within minutes, mount trucks & move out to defend the Airbase, City of DaNang & surrounding areas.
Lunar New Year "TET" Offensive of 1969
filling sandbags and building bunkers for 3 months in preparation for
"TET" of 1969.
"It was always worse than combat itself, waiting to go to combat." Philip Caputo
February 16, 1969 The truce for Tet 1969 begins and is followed by terrorist acts, rocket and mortar attacks, and scattered ground action
February 22, 1969 "PUFF" with its Groan from the Sky & stream of Bullets is on station in the area and comes to the aid of ambushed Marines. For the second time on the 22nd, a reactionary force is sent out from Hill 190.
Combat Action Ribbon
(a personal award to indicate a U.S. Marine combat veteran)
February 23, 1969 The enemy's major attack during Tet comes when the enemy attempts a coordinated attack on DaNang. A number of locations are struck; a rocket hits a fuel tank adjacent to the airbase, and the fire burns all night long.
Enemy Sappers try unsuccessfully to attack the 1st Marine Division & 26th Marines Headquarters on the reverse slop of Hill 327. The city is infiltrated, and an attack is made from the south from the heavily populated lowlands. Also, a thrust with major units comes out of the mountains west of Da Nang by the NVA 141st Regiment. Elements of the 3/7 Marines engage the NVA west of Hill 10 in a series of fierce fights.
as 140mm & 120mm rockets and Mortars fell on Da Nang a large fuel tank took a direct hit
Just before midnight on February 23, 1969 140mm & 122mm Rockets were walked through our living area one landing directly in front of my Hooch as I ran for the bunker outside the door. While in air jumping down I was thrown backwards & up onto the Hooch awning causing a 2 inch hole in my left upper chest. With this attack on the Airbase, 5th Platoon boarded trucks and took up positions in support of 1st MP Battalion on the northwest end of the Airbase. My assigned bunker was right next to the burning fuel tank above and the huge flames kept me nice & warm all night and well into the next day. I covered the bleeding hole in my chest with a standard issue compress. DaNang City was in flames and all the Marine Fighter jets had flown off. This was the first time I saw the planes all leave. Da Nang was under Siege.
February 24, 1969 The next evening 5th Platoon moved to Fighting Holes on the north side of the Da Nang Airbase.
Mag-11 Armory & Cpl. Rich Lovette cleaning his M60 Machine Gun
Third Squad M60 Machine Gunner & Armorer Cpl. Rich Lovette was wounded in his fighting hole and while rockets fell I carried Rich to the Marine Flight Line being the 5 hangers on the north west end of the airbase. We had to stop for cover numerous times as rockets fell around us. While running in the dark behind the first hanger we approached from the north. A Marine yells "STOP, HOT WIRES," as we look down at my next step a hot electric wire had fallen across the road and was bouncing and sparking from a Rocket that just landed. I laid Cpl. Lovette down and went to the aid of the Marine who had just saved us from electrocution. He was having a convulsion, could hardly speak with uncontrollable trembling from the concussion of the rocket that apparently just knocked him down with the electric wire. I helped this unknown Marine into the bunker he was laying against and continued to carry Rich Lovette to an area the Corpsmen had set up for the wounded. With Lovette in good hands with the Navy Corpsmen I returned to the 3rd squad on the north end of the DaNang Airbase.
...The word was passed to dig in, we will be over run tonight, stay in your fighting holes and no reinforcements till day break.
122mm & 140mm Rockets hit Mag-11,
view from Marble Mountain S/E of DaNang
February 25, 1969 "5th Platoon" changes locations. In the morning we move to a new location & after 3 days we return to Mag-11. Word had been passed at Mag-11 that Fifth Platoon had been over run, we set the record straight in that we had changed locations several times.
February 26 , 1969 the NVA attack on 1st Marine Division & 26th Marines Headquarters at Hill 327 ends with over 200 NVA killed and the NVA Regimental Commander captured.
...this ship had several decks prior this Rocket Attack ...the explosions leveled everything in the vicinity
February 27, 1969 DaNang is Rocketed and among other things Rockets hit Shallow Water Pier and a ship unloading Ammunitions. While loading ammunition at Bridge Ramp, DaNang, Vietnam, an enemy rocket hit the nearly loaded craft and killed thirteen ACU-1 sailors. The explosions from the Rockets and exploding ordinance turned out to be for most fatal Navy incident of the Vietnam war in that 22 Sailors lost their lives that night. The 5th Platoon responded as usual to the attack on DaNang and surrounding areas.
When I returned to my Hooch @ Mag-11, I pounded down the sharp corner of the awning, cleaned up. Then checked out the 140mm Rocket Crater that just missed me by a few feet directly in front my Hooch from the night of Feb. 23. 140mm rockets seemed to make a deeper crater in the ground. 122mm craters seemed to leave a wider shallower crater. Living in Rocket Alley after a short time in country you quickly new the difference between 140mm & 122mm enemy rockets flying over head. The 140mm made more of a very loud clanging of shaking jagged metal in a gunny sack sound. If you can hear them over head, that means that one missed you. It is the next one that was the issue.
The gash in my chest sealed itself with time and the recommendation of the Gunny Sergeant Stephens was to pound down the sharp edge on the awning that this would "improve my living conditions." This made perfect sense in that other Marines in Quang Nam Province had a much harsher situation that I did.
Purple Heart Awards need a Corpsmen's medical report or two of the following witnesses:
Gunnery Sergeant Stephens, Corporal Ralf Banks, L/Cpl Allen Perez, Cpl Richard Lovette, Radio man Crawford
Leatherneck Magazine states that 140 Marines were killed or wounded by NVA (North Vietnam Army) Sapper Units in these three days.
As a salty Corporal I was in my own little world, we usually only new what was happening to us. "Delta Company" 1st MP Battalion link sheds light on what was going on down the road.
Navy Unit Commendation Ribbon
Meritorious Unit Commendation Ribbon
...Tet
1969, L/Cpl John Petruska on the DaNang Airbase
(now aka Rev. John)
(Sean Kelly at day break in a refugee camp) ...I do Breakfast @ Day Break, @ age 19 going on 30
After a few months in Vietnam & Mag-11, Sean Kelly and myself requested mass and went to our CO (Commanding Officer) to ask for a transfer to a Marine grunt unit that was permanently in the field. We had had enough of the so called "In the rear with the gear." 122mm & 140mm Rockets falling at night and volunteering with the 5th Platoon on a month by month basis so we felt that we were a part of something. We both liked the country side and as long as we were here, lets do something worth while all the time. But working our normal duties 7 days of week, evenings filling sand bags or other duties, then volunteering our nights with the 5th platoon was becoming a real drag. .....The answer from the CO was firm, if we reenlisted for 2 years we could be transferred to a full time infantry unit but not necessary in Vietnam, no guarantees for anything. We would be transferred to a unknown unit, possible in Okinawa or back in the continental United States. I not only did not care for Mag-11 but the sooner I got out of the Marines and my 3 year enlistment the better I liked it. I declined. Sean reenlisted and was transferred to Okinawa. He was not happy with his Okinawa Orders. Several months later I heard that Sean's new Okinawa unit rotated somewhere in Vietnam but I never heard from Sean again and his name is not listed on the Vietnam Memorial Wall in Washington D.C.. Hopefully he came home safe, to yearly on the vigil feast his friends, to remember what feats we did that day.
Life in the Crouch, as it was known went on as I lived with the Marine Corps motto, "Every Marine a Rifleman" and made sure I did "one fun thing every day."
Patriotism not a FAD, but a
life style
Now a days, especially after September 11, 2001 people, police, firemen etc. want to be hero's for doing their job. Doing what is expected of their job description.
Marines in 1969 just wanted to do their 13 months and go home. Many Marines would extend their tour multiple times and when they came home did not even wear their medals and badges on their uniform. The name Marine said it all, "the look in their eyes" told you were they had been.
My 50 Caliber Machine Gun
As an Armorer I was sent to 50 Caliber Machine Gun school at the FLC (Force Logistics Command) Armory by the Bomb Dump and certified as a Gunner. When assigned to "Charlie Companies" bunkers on the northwest corner of the DaNang Airbase I would man the Gun. This is the 50 Caliber Machine Gun at Gate 2 on the South end of the DaNang Airbase, the bunker and gun placement were the same as our position at the other end of the Airbase perimeter.
(photos barrowed from 1st MP Bn. Web site)
Occasional I would be assigned this 1st MP Bunker that over looks the "Vil"
looking out from the bunker
View from the Northwest corner of the Airbase Bunker (photos barrowed from 1st MP Bn. Web site)
Mike shows how happy he is to arrive in country with the 1st Marine Division.
Christmas Eve 1968 on Hill 327
& the Bob Hope & Ann Margaret Show
Christmas Eve 1968 watching the Bob Hope show from Hill 327 ...I used binoculars and put my instamatic camera in one lense and aimed with the other and took a close up of Bob Hope in his get up. Ann Margaret is to his left below the "S" in shows at the bottom of the pic.
REAL HERO
who served with 3 / 5
(third battalion fifth Marines)
comments on the Marine Corps...
Many years after the war, a Viet Nam combat veteran and a proven expert in the deadly trade of Mortars discussed how after returning home, he was treated unfairly at his civilian job and was cheated out of pay raises and pension funds.
When I asked " Why in the hell did we join the Marines and fight in Viet Nam and for what? "
The HERO simply replied,
..."I know why I went into the Marines
...and it had nothing to do with my Airlines pension."
Sweeps & Medcaps in the countryside
"Winning the hearts and Minds"
Civil
Action Medal, Republic of Vietnam meritorious citation First Class color w/Palm,
(awarded by the Republic of
Vietnam to the 5th Platoon for operations conducted in support of the villages
and Hamlets around Da Nang
of which I am most proud)
Gallantry Cross Medal, Republic of Vietnam meritorious citation color w/Palm,
(awarded
by the Republic of Vietnam to Military personal and units for Valor while
fighting the enemy, and to
the 5th Platoon for operations conducted in support of the villages and Hamlets
around Da Nang of which I
am most proud)
5th Platoon on the move in land
Searching a Buddhist Temple on a Sweep
3rd Squad M-79 Grenade
Launcher Jack, an OMR Armorer like myself was often quoted,
"happiness is a warm M-79."
...Other times we would run sweeps of Coastal Refuge camps around DaNang
sun rising in a Catholic Refuge camp, the helmet on the boys head is probably that of my fiend USMC hero Charlie Nassif
M60 Machine Gunner and Armorer Cpl. Richard Lovette finishes his early morning breakfast while on a sweep of a refugee camp somewhere around Da Nang. I instead choose the lounge chair on the ground.
We Swept this Refugee Village at Day Break as the sun came up over the South China Sea
as I serve as 5th Platoon Runner assigned to 3rd squad, Charlie Company 1st MP Battalion.
(Platoon Runner would meet with the Platoon Commander Lieutenant and Radio man in the command bunker during attacks on the Da Nang Airbase, we then would board trucks and once in the field I would relay messages on foot to other units when radio silence was needed)
"After I came home from the war, I was often asked how it felt, going into combat for the first time. I never answered truthfully, afraid that people would thing of me as some sort of war-lover. The truth is, I felt happy. The nervousness had left me the moment I got into the helicopter, and I felt happier than I ever had. I don’t know why." Philip Caputo
L/Cpl Fox with his M-79 grenade launcher takes a seat while guarding a path
We would often run across these very young Popular Forces in rural Hamlets, there job was to protect the Hamlet with outdated weapons. Some how, although friendly and glad to see Marines these so called Popular Forces seemed to be a useless combat force.
taking a break as we get on line before proceeding ...Viet Cong? Viet Cong lookouts? or just Villagers from a near by Hamlet
we set up on this stream during the night and prepare to sweep the Village off in the distance ...Radio Man Crawford
"Winning the hearts and Minds" as the 5th Platoon is on a Sweep operation south of DaNang, to the left is the 5th Platoon on normal sweep interval, on the right we confront two rice farmer momasons (women) and take custody of a Vietcong in traditional black pajamas walking just outside the Hamlet in the tree line while other farmers tend to the field...
(from right to left) Sitting on the rice paddy dyke: Radioman Crawford, "Myself being the Platoon Runner," Lt. Pawlicki, our Navy Corpsmen, a 5th platoon Marine standing and watching the tree line and Hamlet in front of us, standing with a rifle is a local popular forces soldier (a type of Vietnamese militia that guarded local villages). The popular forces soldier, usually in their early teens was obviously afraid or a relative of the Vietcong in the Hamlet in that he took no action against the Vietcong before our arrival...
(from right to left) Sitting: Vietcong in Black pajamas, an ARVN interpreter (army of Vietnam) probably a second interpreter, and two local women are standing and also detained. Later a empty sand bag would be placed over the Vietcong's head and he would be turned over to the ARVN forces also involved in this sweep. The picture was probably taken by my good friend Charlie Nassif with my instamatic camera while he guarded our rear as we spend some time with the Vietcong
Loading up after a Sweep with ARVN's and the rest of Charlie Company
Guard Duty & my little slice of heaven for a month
A month of
Guard Duty
at this Bunker & Tower in front of the Marine Flight Line in the background (5
hangers flying fighter jets 24 hours a day in support of Marines on the ground
and bombing missions on the Ho Chi Min Trail and Hanoi). This meant
filling sand bags all day back in our hootch living area, grab something to eat
& stay up all night in this usually 2 man bunker. When @ 50% alert, one
Marine tries to get some sleep in the rat infested bunker below while the other
keeps watch from the tower. Quite often we would be on 100% alert & that
meant no sleep & the bunker would become a 4 Marines bunker.
In keeping with my practice of doing one fun thing every day, I would get a few old hot dogs from the cooks at Mag-11 & throw a little piece from the tower in the middle of the night. We had a flood light in front of us shining on the barbed wire. Huge rats, the size of cats would appear and stalk the piece of meat until the bravest of the rats would enter the lighted area and steal the hot dog. Now that was fun???
Convoys
With Tet only weeks away the 5th Platoon Escorts a Convoy into Happy Valley and to An Hoa, 25 or so miles south of Da Nang
Riding Shotgun once a week I would ride shotgun on a truck into places like DaNang City (Controlled by the Viet Cong), sometimes for a truck load of Char Coal, other times transporting a document to the Command Center in DaNang or 3rd MAF (Marine Amphibious Force Headquarters). A weekly load of worn out 782 gear (combat gear) to the Marble Mountain garbage dump. The place where my friend UMSC Pvt. Robert Swan was killed August 31, 1967. Or to the top of Monkey Mountain's Air Force Missile and communication installation. Maybe Red Beach FLC supply depot for a truck load of supply's or equipment repair drop off and pick up.
this is the road to Marble Mountain off in the distance
If the truck was empty I would ride in the cab of the truck, but if gear was in the bed of the truck you had to ride with the gear because the Vietnamese locals would jump on the truck and steal the equipment. On my first ever time riding shotgun a Marine who was rotating home took me on my first run to show me the ropes. When at the garbage dump armed AVRN's guarding the dump would approach. To take the items before your put Diesel Fuel on the 782 gear to burn it so the VC could not use it. The routine was always the same. Pull out my 45 caliber auto. Chamber a round and act like a Marine yelling "Di Di Mau Len" w/ some spicy language thrown in for effect. Vietnamese for "run", to "run quickly." When I was getting ready to rotate home 19 months later. I took a new Marine who would gain the assignment and taught him the same time tested procedure.
5th Platoon often ran sweeps with ARVN troops like these in the 6x6 truck ...Republic of Korea Marines often passed through the area
extra caution was needed in populated areas because Fragging Marine trucks was a daily happening.
"D" Co. 1st MP Bn. Tower
in keeping with the rule, "one fun thing every day," we stop and stretch on the roadside. Notice the M-14 rifle. I was originally given a M-14 and after a few months in the Nam the Fifth Platoon was issued M-16's
Bomb Dump Goes up in Flames April 27, 1969
w/ unrest in "Dog Patch" (the Hamlet outside our main gate) a little mid afternoon bunker time
then came the call passed throughout Mag-11, "5th Platoon on the
road"
April 27, 1969 & the 5th platoon is activated as the bomb dump south of DaNang catches fire & explodes for 2 days. Rumor was that the fires and explosions was started by a Viet Cong Sappers Unit.
The Fifth Platoon was originally sent to the Bomb Dump to deal with the Viet
Cong Sapper Units and ended up trying to stop the spreading fires.
Later in the day we, The 5th Platoon was move on the Northwest corner of The
DaNang Airbase. The 2,000 & 500 lbs. were flying over 1,000 feet into the
air and exploding. Quite spectacular. The concussion and shock waves
from these explosions every 30 seconds knocked down buildings, leveled hamlets
and would knock you off your feet.
As evening came the explosions became more spectacular and dangerous.
As night arrived the explosions became more spectacular and dangerous & The 5th Platoon took up positions at Mag-11's Maine gate across from the Village know as "Dog Patch."
Riding Choppers up to Phu Bia a few days and change of scenery on Phu Bia's outer perimeter
Phu Bia in Central "I Corps"
nap time
Phu Bia ...Leonard Mikulon aka Casper LaVito of Cicero, Illinois &Tri-Pod the dog
Motor Transport friend of Lenny who earlier in the day rolled his 6x6 truck into this ditch as Lenny and I road in the back. Navy Sea Bee's had just oil the road and it started to drizzle making the road slippery as ice without warning. We dove for the muddy burm on the far side of the ditch for a soft landing. Another USMC truck came by and pulled us out. No big deal.
Out Perimeter of Phu Bai
Phu Bia in Central "I Corps"
This Day the Sun Rose in the South in front of Mag-11 & Dog Patch
In the Summer of Love, 1969 I extended my Tour of
Duty for 6 months with the understanding that I would be transferred to a
CAP Unit. I had gone through the interview
process and received approval from all concerned. This
Combined Action Platoon
of 13 Marines lived & operated in a village south of DaNang & was sponsored by
Mag-11. It's goal was to improve the life of the Villagers by building
wells, schools, giving medical attention to the people & most of all the full
time Security of 13 Marines living with the people in the village. The CAP
Units also monitored Vietcong and NVA (North Vietnamese Army) activity as they
moved for attacks on the City of DaNang and the Airbase.
With a 6 month extension of Duty in the Nam you receive a 30 day trip anywhere in the free world to split up your tour. I was home during August of 1969, the so called Summer of Love while the Dope Attack Hippies were Frolicking in Wood Stock New York.
Upon my return to Mag-11 in September for my 2nd Tour of Duty in the Nam. I was informed that Mag-11's CAP Unit no longer exists and that I would return to my old duties in the Armory & w/the 5th Mobile Counter Insurgency Platoon. I was not a happy camper.
I would later learn that the 13 Marines in my CAP Unit had been over run & our all KIA. (Killed in Action)
"You don't need to look at a Marines War Medals to see were he has been,
it is in the Eyes"
(19 months in country was enough, time to go home)
Loading Up after Day break and back to the Air Base after a Sweep Operation and Med Cap with the rest of Charlie Company and ARVN Forces (Army of Viet Nam) The City of Da Nang had 1 million North Vietnamese Roman Catholic Refugees who fled the North because they had the white mans religion taught by the French. These people left everything they had in the North for Religious Freedom and were most grateful for a Marine Corps presence in the area.
With my Catholic Our Lady of Charity Grade School and St. Joseph High School background. This put a different light on the War and made it a little more personal as history was being made. The young children would often say, "Marines come, VC go, Marines Boo-Coo Dinky Dau" aka Crazy!
(Boo-Coo a perversion of the French beaucoup meaning many & Dinky Dau Vietnamese dien cai dau off the wall)
"We've
only one Virginity to lose, and where we lost it is there our hearts will
be"
Rudyard Kipling
(Board a plane for CONUS Continental United States via Okinawa February 17,1907)
National Marine Corps Museum Film
United States Marine Corps Awards
Combat Action Ribbon
(a personal award to indicate a U.S. Marine combat veteran)
Navy Unit Commendation Ribbon
Meritorious Unit Commendation Ribbon
National Defense Medal
(aka Fire Watch ribbon in that
everyone got one in boot camp)
Vietnam Service Medal w/ 4
Battle Stars (an average Marine would earn
the ribbon and one star)
Campaigns:
Vietnamese Counter offensive ( 31 August -1 November 1969)
Vietnamese Counter offensive ( 2 November 1968-22 February 1969)
Tet 69/Counter offensive (23 February-8 June 1969)
Vietnamese Summer- Fall 1969 (June-31 October 1969)
Vietnam Winter-Spring 1970 (1 November 1969- 30 February 17, 1970)
Vietnam Campaign Medal w/1960-
Civil
Action Medal, Republic of Vietnam meritorious citation First Class color w/Palm,
(awarded by the Republic of
Vietnam to the 5th Platoon for operations conducted in support of the villages
and Hamlets around Da Nang
of which I am most proud)
Gallantry Cross Medal, Republic of Vietnam meritorious citation color w/Palm,
(awarded
by the Republic of Vietnam to Military personal and units for Valor while
fighting the enemy, and to
the 5th Platoon for operations conducted in support of the villages and Hamlets
around Da Nang of which I
am most proud)
Marksman Rifle Badge (aka shit can
cover)
a gift from New Mexico's USMC Vietnam Hero Charlie Nassif
USMC NCO Sword in the pillow basket. A gift from USMC Vietnam Veteran John Petruska
March 13, 2008
Ft. Myers, Florida
& lunch w/ Killer Combat USMC Vietnam Veteran
John Petruska
&
his wife Susan.
The last time I saw John was February 1970 the night before I went on my second R&R, this time to Bangkok. When I returned from Rest & Recuperation as it was called, John & all of the Fifth Platoon had rotated home. The entire Fifth Platoon and most Marines I knew had been sent back to the CONUS aka Continental United States on a Ship. L/Cpl Jack Stark had left me a bottle of Whiskey. That evening The 5th Platoon was being reorganized with the New State side Marines. The 5th Platoon met as usual behind the hootch that served as a post office. I sat on the loading dock / porch as the assignments for the 5th platoon were given out to the new Marines in formation. Then the Staff Sergeant in charge came to me and asked, "who are you," I answered that " I was the Platoon runner & in the 3rd squad. The S/Sergeant looked me up & down at my faded old cloths, worn boots & gear & asked? How long have you been here? I replied 19 months. It was obvious that the S/Sgt. was unclear of what to do with me in that I had set up My Own Marine Corps Of One on the Post Office loading dock. I added that I expect to rotate shortly & it would be fine with me just hang out in the 3rd fire team of the 3rd squad. ...Agreed
...I left the Republic of Vietnam February 17, 1970
In Remembrance
Sergeant
Clarence Joseph Wilkosz
USMC
born January 18, 1922 Cicero, Illinois - died February 27, 2003
Served in World War II Pacific Theater and China Marine
Retired Cicero, Illinois Firemen
The Marine Corps Hymn was played as Sgt. Wilkosz was carried by his Grand Children into the Cathedral of Christ the King. A Marine Corps Honor guard in Dress Blues was sent to the grave site by President George W. Bush and the Commandant of the Marine Corps Michael W. Hagee. The Chicago Chapter of the 1st Marine Division Association sent flowers.
"Why"
because Marines take care of their own, they get on ships and planes and go die,
they fight not for a flag or country but for the Marine in the next fighting
hole, something most people neither know or can comprehend.
"For the Marines and Firemen who served with Clarence, and for Firefighters, Policemen and members of the Armed Forces past and present, we pray to the Lord" (An excerpt from my fathers Funeral Mass)
2906 S. 49th Avenue, Cicero Illinois
Clarence grew up running the family business, "Wilkosz Grocery, Live Poultry & Meat Market", Cicero, Illinois
Dad owned and lived in the two story home to the rear and right of the store over looking the duck and geese pond, fruit trees and the family business.
inside
view of Wilkosz Grocery, Live Poultry & Meat Market
in the days before Super Markets like A&P, Jewel & Dominick's etc.
Cpl. Charles
A. Nassif
USMC
Home town of Albuquerque, New Mexico
died June 10, 2003
(breakfast with Charlie on a sweep south of Da Nang)
5th Mobile Counter Insurgency Platoon Mag-11 attached to Charlie Company 1st MP Battalion
Da Nang, Quang Nam Province, Republic of Vietnam
June 10, 2003, today I lost my youth.
My "Hero," mentor, and good friend. We served in the in the 3rd squad of the 5th platoon. We ate, slept, boot legged black label beer as the rockets fell on Da Nang and came home to tell about it. With raising families we only seen each other five times since Vietnam although we frequently, sometimes daily talked on the phone and when we did meet it was like we were brothers, like we never left each other. I was still 18 years old when I talked to Charlie. No reason to impress each other. He was Charlie, the cowboy from New Mexico. I was Wil from Chicago. Charlie was sited for heroism for his actions during the Da Nang bomb dump fire and explosions that lasted 2 days and leveled everything for miles and with the 5th platoon Charlie frequently went on sweeps, guarded bridges, manned bunkers, escorted convoys and provided medical attention for the people of the villages, Hamlets, and Refugee camps surrounding Da Nang.
A "Warrior" has moved on.
(Las Vegas, Nevada Feb. 2001)
I have made fellowships-
Untold of happy lovers in old song.
For love is not the binding of fair lips…
But wound with war’s hard wire whose stakes