03 Apr 2008 As a Vietnam Veteran myself, I feel the loss of so many of our brothers in arms. I have worn PFC William's bracelet since 1991 and wish to honor him on this The Virtual Wall. He lost his life the first day in country if I remember correctly and no one will know what he could have become. His sacrifice will be remembered, not for what he did not do, but for who he was, a United States Marine. Semper Fi, my brother. Nathan Roth E-mail address is not available.

 

A Note from The Virtual Wall On 25 May 1969 Bravo Company, 1/3 Marines, was holding a defensive position about 5 kilometers southwest of Cam Lo (in Quang Tri Province just south of the DMZ). The position had received enemy 82mm mortar fire during the morning hours, apparently without harm, but the company's luck changed in the afternoon. The Command Chronology reports that "At 251745H, at Bravo Company position vicinity YD055684, the NVA firing 82mm mortars ... dropped one round into the increments pit of the 81mm mortars, setting them on fire, fire spread to the 81mm ammo in the ammo pits, this started the 81mm ammo going off, and the fire spread to a pallet of 81mm ammo near the position, causing it to explode. People trying to put out the fire before the explosion got too close, Bravo suffered 8 KIA, 29 WIA, and 2 MIA. Rounds continued to cook off, making it impossible that night to get every one of the KIA or WIA out. Company forced to move off hill by continuous explosions." On the morning of the 26th the Marines regrouped, reoccupied the position, and recovered additional bodies, increasing the casualty count to 12 dead. No identifiable remains were recovered for two Marines known to be present, and a week later one of the wounded died of his injuries. The fifteen men were 1stLt John W. Abbott, Hammond, IN, Bravo 1/3 2ndLt Timothy M. O'Neill, St Louis, MO, Bravo 1/3 Cpl Gary D. Carter, Tyler, TX, Bravo 1/3 Cpl Daniel L. Pucci, Berea, OH, Bravo 1/3 (DoW 06/02/1969) Cpl Jan Rauschkolb, Denver, CO, H&S 1/3 Cpl William F. Skaggs, St Paul, MN, Bravo 1/3 LCpl Paul A. Graff, Sunnyvale, CA, H&S 1/3 LCpl Michael A. Powell, Atlanta, GA, H&S 1/3 LCpl John Winters, Clark, NJ, Bravo 1/3 Pfc Jimmy K. Church, Columbus, OH, Bravo 1/3 Pfc Keith A. Kahlstorf, Britt, IA, Bravo 1/3 Pfc Edward T. O'Donovan, Chicago, IL, Bravo 1/3 Pfc Jim J. Walters, Sioux City, IA, Bravo 1/3 Pfc Leroy C. Williams, Jacksonville, FL, Bravo 1/3 (Body not recovered) Pvt Monek Weitz, Roxbury, MA, A Btry, 1/12 Marines (Body not recovered) Private Weitz was a member of an artillery Forward Observer team attached to Bravo 1/3. Mr. Roth says "He lost his life the first day in country if I remember correctly..." but that is not correct. Because of computer limitations when the CACCF was first constructed in the early 1970s, the "Start Tour" data field was used to store the incident date for persons in MIA or BNR status, with the "Casualty Date" field reserved for the actual or nominal date of death. Private Weitz's CACCF record shows the same idiosyncracy for the same reason. While their "Start Tour" dates are not known, they did not die on their first day in-country.

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