SFC Henry Alfred Musa, Jr, Port Tampa City, FL on www.VirtualWall.org The Virtual Wall® Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall

The son of Edna C. D. (1909-2006) and Henry A Musa (1901-1974), according to the 1940 census, Henry was the oldest of at least 5 children. The children were Henry A Musa Junior (age 11), Dolores E Musa (8), Lila Nell Musa (6), Betty Joan Musa (4), and Patsy Joyce Musa (1). They were living in Hillsboro County, Florida in 1940.

He married Johanne S Musa and they had 5 children when he left for Vietnam while living on South Manhatten, Tampa, Florida. According to his marker inscription, SFC Musa served in both Korea and Vietnam and was awarded a Silver Star and first oak leaf cluster and the Bronze Star.

He started his Vietnam tour on March 26, 1965 as an advisor to the Vietnamese Rangers, properly known in Vietnamese as the Biet Dong Quan or more commonly known as the ARVN Rangers of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam. He was assigned to Team TD39.

On July 5, 1965, he and 3 other ARVN Ranger advisors were at the jungle outpost Ba Gia near Quang Ngai in South Vietnam, 17 kilometers west-northwest of Quang Ngai City, when the post was overrun by an estimated 1000-1500 Viet Cong force. Newspapers described it as "one of the bloodiest battles of the war to date". A survivor told newsmen the Viet Cong attacked in "human waves and couldn't be stopped." There were only 180 men defending the outpost. There were 3 US soldiers killed in the attack. They were:

SFC Musa was awarded a Silver Star twice and a Bronze Star. The Virtual Wall is attempting to locate orders and citations.

His wife Joann passed away on May 20, 2013, surrounded by her loving family. She was preceded in death by her husband, Henry Alfred Musa Jr, her son Travis (John T), and her daughter Dixie. She was survived by her daughters, Lila and Barbara; and son, Darrell. Henry and Joann are bureid in Garden of Memories cemetery, Tampa, Florida, as are his parents.