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Gerald Alexander Tucker
Specialist Four
CRIP PLT, HHC, 2ND BN, 27TH INFANTRY, 25TH INF DIV, USARV Army of the United States Dearborn Heights, Michigan September 19, 1946 to February 12, 1968 GERALD A TUCKER is on the Wall at Panel 39E, Line 14 |
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SP4 GERALD ALEXANDER TUCKER
SP4 GERALD ALEXANDER TUCKER
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12 Feb 2004It was the greatest honor for me and the men of CRIP to know you and to serve with you. You and the 9 other men will live in our hearts forever and you will never be forgotten. We love you and we miss you. Thank you for being our brother. We will always remember the "MIGHTY 10". Wolfhounds Forever!8 Feb 2005The courage, strength, valor, and love for your fellow soldiers displayed by you on the battle field that day that our Lord called you to your heavenly home will be embedded in our hearts eternally. Our memories of you will always be in our minds and hearts each and and every day. You are truely loved and missed. Your "CRIP" BrothersWOLFHOUNDS FOREVER !!! 1 Feb 2007It has been 39 years since that horrible day on the battlefield when you gallantly fought by our sides and paid the ultimate price of giving you life which allowed many of your fellow platoon members to survive. Your courage will be remembered by us for the rest of our days. We all have the greatest of love, respect,and admiration for you and the other men of The Mighty 10. You are the shining light in each of our hearts every day. We salute you, miss you, and never will forget you. Wolfhounds Forever !!! Your Brothers of CRIP |
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Tay Ninh was an un-secured region, according to Army Intelligence, for a staging and resupplying of NVA (North Vietnamese Army) and VC (Vietcong) guerrilla fighters. In the spring of 1967, the 2nd Battalion of the 27th Infantry, 25th Infantry Division formed a group of specialized soldiers hand selected by key intelligence officers. They renamed the Reconnaisance Platoon of Headquarters and Headquarters Company, to become the Combined Reconnaissance and Intelligence Platoon (CRIP). Read more about the "Mighty 10" here and at another site here. Ten men from the Combined Recon and Intelligence Platoon (CRIP), 2nd Battalion, 27th Infantry, were listed by the Army as having died in action on 12 Feb 1968 - they were:
Escanaba Daily Press, Friday, February 16, 1968 : Front Page - The Defense Department listed seven Michigan servicemen Thursday among 48 reported killed in action in the Vietnam War. They were: Marine 1st Lt. David Buursmu son of Mr. and Mrs. Donald Buursma of Holland: Marine Pfc. Terry Melvin Curtis, son of Mr. and Mrs. Harold D. Curtis of Flint; Marine Pfc. Jerry Douglas Mallory, son of Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Kalush of Linden; Marine Pfc. Donald Bryan, son of Mr. and Mrs. Lester R. Olsen of Warren; Army Spec. 4 Gerald Alexander Tucker, son of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Tucker of Dearborn Heights; Army Pfc. James Edward Stover, son of Mrs. Jacquelyn Washington of Detroit and Army Spec 4 Quentin Wayne Binder, son of Mr. and Mrs. Quentin A, Binder of Bruce Crossing, who died of wounds suffered in combat.
Gerald "Jerry" to his friends and those that knew him, quickly made his way through basic training and on to Mechanical Maintenance Helper as a MOS (Military Occupational Specialty). For Gerald, being assigned to the Recon C.R.I.P. unit was exciting. His alternative with a Mechanic's Maintenance Helper MOS meant the motor pool. The motor pool also came with the daily grind of scheduled repair and maintenance assignments. Gerald's training on weapons was limited but he quickly made the transition to a rifleman with the platoon. His tour of duty in Vietnam started on July 31, 1967. He had already been involved in several incidents by the time the ambush happened on February 12, 1968. Gerald and the members of the platoon came under heavy machine gun and small arms fire, including an initial garage of RPG's (Rocket Propelled Grenades). The ambush happened so fast that finding cover quickly became a life and death matter. The men fought to save each other. Others were wounded - being saved by their fellow fallen soldiers is something you never forget or take for granted. The men lost that day will never be forgotten nor will the other men that paid the ultimate sacrifice so others may live. They are known affectionately to the men of the 25th Infantry Division Wolfhound Recon Unit as the "Mighty Ten". It is unknown where Jerry was buried but the notice from the Defense Department showed he was survived by his parents in Dearborn Heights Michigan. Feb. 13, 1993, Various Newspapers in US and Overseas Stars & Stripes SHREVEPORT, LA. SHREVEPORT, La. (AP) - A quarter-century after 23-year-old Gene Youngblood died in Vietnam, a stranger came forward to tell his parents the details. Gordon and Emma Lou Youngblood learned that their son died in an ambush a day earlier than they had believed, after they found a memorial to him on the obituary page of The Times in Shreveport. It read: ''Charles E. Youngblood. Nov. 1944-11 Feb. 1968. ''It has been 25 years since that day that you and the other nine men courageously fought by our sides and were called to the service of our Lord. You will live forever in our hearts and we will always love you. All the men of 'C.R.I.P.' 2nd Bn. 27th Inf. (Wolfhounds) 25th Inf. Div.'' The Youngbloods found that Leonard N. Brooks, 46, of Austin, Texas, placed the ad. He was the medic of the Combined Reconnaissance Intelligence Platoon when it lost more than one-third of its 28 soldiers outside a hamlet called Boa Trai. Brooks, a security officer at Austin Community College, said he also placed his memorial in seven other newspapers. ''I wanted someone out there, some of the folks who knew them to give a thought of them,'' he said. He said his unit was based at Chu Chi and worked with a similar Vietnamese unit. Twenty-eight Americans and two Vietnamese went to Bao Trai to check out a report that a few Viet Cong were collecting taxes there. They found themselves facing about 200 enemy soldiers. ''They were probably passing through the area and our paths crossed,'' Brooks said. ''We got hit from the front and the left and right.'' After several hours, helicopter gunships showed up, but it wasn't until after dark when another unit arrived that they were rescued, he said. The combined force was able to secure the area and get the bodies on Feb. 12, Brooks said, adding that that may have caused part of the confusion about the day Youngblood and the others died. ''We didn't know until now how they got killed,'' Gordon Youngblood said. ''He told us they were a select group of soldiers.'' Read more about the "Mighty 10" here and at another site here. Map of Location of the Village of Bao Thai
Near the 'Dog's Head' (west) between South Vietnam and Cambodia - a 'hot spot' throughout the war.  |
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