Rest in Peace
People that died recently
How 2/26 got its nick-name
“Some troopers in Battalion Rear painted in the Chaplins while we were in DMZ although undeserved and I requested Fighting Nomads instead. By the time I arrived at Phu Bai, the sign was erected already.”
— On Sun, 6/22/08, Dunc Chaplin <dsnack@worldpath.net> wrote:
June 22 … Whoops, look at what I found in my drafts file. Sorry it’s late. Tomorrows my 80th. My family is holding a large birthday party on Saturday. It’s a Pig Roast kindness of Strafford County Sheriff Wayne Estes. Whoopee! Money Six
F.Y.I.
Back in my romping stomping days!
I joined Nomads in the first sweep through the DMZ; then the Phu Bai Defense Command and conducting counter-guerrilla warfare between Hai Van Pass and Hue City during the six months prior to Tet 1968. By then I was rotated to Hawaii and 2/26 was in major blocking position at north end of the Khe Shan Combat Base.
Not me. 2/26 was given the nick name of the Professionals by its first Marines back in California before embarkation for ” Nam . Some how, by time I joined up, the Battalion was known as the Nomads, because it was constantly a swing unit between Regiments (but never its parent 26th Marines) in both the 1st and 3rd Divisions. Some troopers in Battalion Rear painted in the Chaplins while we were in DMZ although undeserved and I requested Fighting Nomads instead. By the time I arrived at Phu Bai, the sign was erected already.
For Jimmy Ronny: I live in Strafford and Farmington is just over New Durham Ridge by town maintained gravel roads. Yes, it is one of the few towns still in tact as NH turns into residential, bed rooms and out of state recreation hide outs.
Hill 700 p 497
Another breakout action the Marines took involved the 2nd battalion, 26th Marines, still under Lieutenant Colonel Francis Heath. On April 5 (Notes) the battalion’s Golf company (Captain Lee R. Overstreet) conducted a company-size combat patrol to the southwest of Hill 558, the first since late January. The mission was to be a reconnaissance – to check whether the NVA occupied a ridge that overlooked Hill 558 from about 1,800 meters to the west.
The battalion maneuver uncovered an NVA HORNET’S NEST. GOLF Company stumbled into a reinforced North Vietnamese company atop its objective. A lot of things went wrong, including a two-hour delay in support fire because of a super gaggle of, helicopters that refused to vacate the area. Heath called the company back to 558 for the night, the casualties stood at three killed, eleven missing, forty-nine wounded and evacuated, plus eleven wounded but not evacuated
On Palm Sunday – April 7 – Heath tried again, this time with two companies. To Golf he added Foxtrot under Captain Charles F. Divelbiss. The men struggled forward under an extremely hot sun, through dense foliage and up steep slopes. There were a number heat casualties before the Marines even got close to the NVA ridge line. The assault itself would be equally tough. In Foxtrot both officers leading forward platoons were shot. One platoon was reduced to fourteen marines led by a corporal, Rudy De La Garza.
Captain Overstreet with Golf was wounded twice. Golf was again repulsed,: and Foxtrot had to be withdrawn with eight dead, two marines who later died of their wounds, and fifty-one others wounded. As for Golf company, it now had only 120 of the 210 marines it had a couple of days before
Two days of aerial and artillery bombardment followed, Heath drew up a plan for an attack by his entire battalion. Not wanting to begin prematurely, he rejected the offer some helicopter pilots made of inserting a force of riflemen directly on top of the ridge. Also, Echo company under First Lieutenant Joseph R. Meeks was sent to hill 861 on April 9, where it became the battalion reserve for the attack on the ridge opposite. Heath, like Cahill, (Cahill was mentioned on an earlier page) made a night move to put the battalion into assault positions before first light. At 6:30 am. they attacked with three companies on line. (I think this was Fox Golf and Hotel with Echo on reserve)
The rest was anticlimax. Having fought so hard against the earlier forays, the North Vietnamese decided they had enough, and pulled out. Marines found the bodies of the missing Marines, and an American PRC-25 radio still tuned to Golf company’s frequency.
EFS w Shades on LPH5
Me & Avampato
Me and Avampato in the ship with another baby face Marine between us.
Checking In
Hey Devil Dogs,
I just wanted to take a minute and thank Eric for posting some of my stuff. That was an unexpected surprise to bounce onto your site and see all that stuff on there. I sent the link and showed it to my buddy Mike River who is in the pic with me disembarking the Iraqi prisoners from the CH53. One of the things he told me was that he felt honored to be on a site with Vietnam Marines. I couldn’t agree more. Like you all followed in the footsteps of Marines before you, We followed in your footsteps. We tried to live up to your greatness, as you lived up to the greatness of Marines that went before you. So for us it is a honor to be posted with you guys.
Also, I check in on the your site often to see what you guys have been posting. I like what you guys have been doing with the site. It really has turned out great.
Till next time,
Semper Fi
Ken Curcio – Frank Skocich’s Cousin & Gulf War Marine.
Inspiration
A close up of Ken and his unit
Time to get to work
Baby Face Marine
Slideshow
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