Eligio Rice Gonzales, Jr

The database page for Eligio Rice Gonzales, Jr

25 Apr 2004 Eligio "Baby" Gonzales was born in Marfa, Texas. He attended Marfa schools and was active in all sports, FFA and dancing. He was a member of the 1967 graduating clas. He was drafted a few weeks later, leaving his family and a fiancee. He had a 31 day leave after basic and infantry AIT. His mother remembers noticing that from time to time, he would stand at the back door of the kitchen and look out towards the yard, the street and the neighborhood. She wonders if he was thinking, perhaps, that it would be his last time to see his yard, his neighborhood. How hard it must have been for him. He never told his mother that he was leaving for Vietnam. He kept a journal that begins with the day he left for the Army up until the day before he was killed. He left for Vietnam on November 12, 1967 and his tour began on November 16, 1967. May his memory and those of all the others who perished in Vietnam serve to remember that they left their homes, their families, their fiancees, their back yards, and their neighborhoods. He is remembered by the Permian Basin Vietnam Memorial located at Midland International Airport, Midland, Texas.

A Note from The Virtual Wall SP4 Gonzales was one of seven men from A Company, 4/9th Infantry, killed in action on 06 June 1968: 1LT Richard J. Rudolph, Atlanta, GA 1LT James S. Wood, La Due, MO SP4 Dennis Archibald, Chicago, IL SP4 Eligio R. Gonzales, Marfa, TX PFC Lee R. Bush, Lansing, MI PFC Charles W. Smith, Dickson, TN PFC John P. Thompson, Baltimore, MD

The point-of-contact for this memorial is a Permian Basin Vietnam Memorial Representative, Billy M. Brown bmbrown@grandecom.net  25 Apr 2004

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With all respect
Jim Schueckler, former CW2, US Army
Ken Davis, Commander, United States Navy (Ret)
Channing Prothro, former CAP Marine
Last updated 04/25/2004