06 Dec 2002 Left behind. You may have been left behind, but you will never be forgotten. Not as long as the beautiful, granite "Wall" in D.C remains standing. Be at peace, Gary. From one who remembers, Gently jsinger@uwm.edu

 

29 Feb 2004 Gary, Like I said in the letter I left for Joseph I never knew you but did know one of the three of you men that were left behind on Koh Tang Island. He was PFC Danny G. Marshall. He was my best friend - we grew up in a small town in West Virginia and went to the same schools. It was and still is a shame that our Government did to you three men what they did, but we now know what happened thanks to a man named Ralph Wetterhahn and his book "The Last Battle". And Gary I want to tell you the same thing I said in the letters I left for Danny and Joseph: "JOB WELL DONE, Gary". From a friend of one left behind, Teleah Cross baymare03@yahoo.com

 

21 Dec 2004 Gary, You are not forgotten. It is said a man hasn't died as long as he is remembered. I Am Not Dead Do not stand at my grave and weep; I am not there, I do not sleep. I am a thousand winds that blow; I am diamond glints of snow; I am the sunlight on ripened grain; I am the gentle autumn's rain. When you awaken in the morning's hush; I am the swift uplifting rush of quiet birds encircled flight. I am the soft star that shines at night. Do not stand at my grave and cry; I am not there, I did not die. Lyrics by Mary Frye (1932) and Wilbur Skeels (1996) I wear his POW/MIA Bracelet, Bob Heise usmcsarge567@juno.com

 

The Mayaguez Incident After the fall of Cambodia and South Vietnam to the Communists, Cambodian forces captured the US-registered ship SS MAYAGUEZ, taking her to the offshore island of Koh Tang. President Gerald Ford directed that the ship should be recaptured and her crew freed by use of force. The USS CORAL SEA (CVA-43) battle group and an assault group from the 9th Marines were directed to land on the island and retake the ship and crew. Although intelligence estimates indicated that the island was lightly held, in fact there were a considerable number of Cambodian troops in place - and they had hand-held weapons suitable for use against helicopters. The Marines staged through U-Tapao RTAFB in Thailand and were landed by USAF CH-53A helicopters. As the helicopters approached shore, the aircraft were taken under fire and four were brought down: One had disembarked its troops and ditched offshore; the crew was picked up. One went down in the surfline and all aboard made it ashore. One went down in the surfline with a single casualty. One went down offshore; eleven Marines and two Navy Corpsmen were not rescued. In a sense the rescue effort was successful - the ship was recaptured and its 39 crewmen recovered - but the cost was high: 50 wounded and 17 unaccounted for ... 14 servicemen believed killed in the downed helicopters, one known dead Marine whose body could not be recovered, and three missing Marines ashore (PFC Gary Hall, LCpl Joseph Hargrove, and Pvt Danny Marshall). Eventually the US and Cambodian governments agreed to attempt the recovery of remains from the raid and in 1995 a number of human remains were repatriated. During May and June of 2000, the US government announced the positive identification of nine of the missing men. As of 06 December 2004, nine men who participated in the MAYAGUEZ raid haven't come home: SSG Elwood Eugene Rumbaugh, 21st SOS Pfc Daniel Andrew Benedett, 2/9 Marines Pfc Gary Lee Hall, 2/9 Marines LCpl Joseph N. Hargrove, 2/9 Marines LCpl Ashton N. Loney, 2/9 Marines Pfc James Joseph Jacques, 2/9 Marines Pvt Danny G. Marshall, 2/9 Marines Pfc James Rickey Maxwell, 2/9 Marines Pfc Richard William Rivenburgh, 2/9 Marines

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