Mark Gregory Draper

The database page for Mark Gregory Draper

07 Sep 2002 YOU ARE NOT FORGOTTEN! From a fellow veteran, SMSgt David Hine (USAF Ret) dlhaujfan@aol.com

A Note from The Virtual Wall Hill 927 was located 20 miles due west of Hue and about 7 miles northeast of the northern end of the A Shau Valley. The 1st Cavalry Division built Fire Support Base Carol on Hill 927 in 1968, and it was used by elements of the 101st Airborne as early as January 1969. The position was of considerable importance because it lay only 5 miles north of Hill 1615, also known as Co Pung Mountain or "The Warehouse", wherein was hidden a major logistics complex which supported the North Vietnamese Army's 29th and 803rd Regiments. Hill 927 was abandoned, then reopened by ground assault on 11 Apr 1970. Elements of the 101st Airborne took up residence in what was now known as Fire Support Base Ripcord and proceeded to make life miserable for the NVA commands in and around the Co Pung. This situation elicited a violent response from the NVA leading to the "Siege of FSB Ripcord" in June-July 1970. The three-week period covering the siege cost the 101st Airborne 75 killed and 345 wounded in action before FSB Ripcord was again abandoned on 23 July 1970. Hill 805, which lies 1.5 kilometers east-southeast of FSB Ripcord, was the location of heavy fighting throughout much of July. On 21 July, "D" Company, 1/506th Infantry, lost five men there; on the 22nd "A" Company, 2/506, lost 12 men in a brutal fight: B Btry, 2nd Bn, 319th Artillery 2LT Steven A. Olson, Chamblee, GA (F/O with A/2/28) A Co, 2nd Bn, 506th Infantry: 1LT William A. Pahissa, Tucson, AZ SSG John W. Kreckel, Milwaukee, WI (Dist Svc Cross) SSG Gerald B. Singleton, Indio, CA SGT Mark G. Draper, Finly, IN (Medic, HHC w/ A/2/506) SGT Harvey R. Neal, South Boston, VA (DoW 07/27/1970) SGT Thomas R. Schultz, Pittsburgh, PA CPL John M. Babich, Franklin Grove, IL CPL Virgil M. Bixby, Iowa City, IA CPL Robert J. Brown, Buffalo, NY CPL Danny J. Fries, Council Bluffs, IA SP4 Robert M. Journell, Salem, VA SP4 Donald J. Severson, Superior, WI Visit John Dennison's Medics on the Wall memorial which honors the Army Medics and Navy Corpsmen who died in Vietnam.

The point-of-contact for this memorial is a fellow veteran, SMSgt David Hine (USAF Ret) dlhaujfan@aol.com 07 Sep 2002

Top of Page www.VirtualWall.org Back to To alpha index D IN State Index . Panel 08W 506TH INF RGT Index Webmaster@VirtualWall.org

With all respect
Jim Schueckler, former CW2, US Army
Ken Davis, Commander, United States Navy (Ret)
Last updated 01/31/2006