28 Sep 2005 We called him Rich. I guess it was a nickname. His mother told me that when he was born, she told her husband I sure hope he grows up to be "rich." He was my cousin and my best friend. We grew up very close as our mothers were first cousins - actually double cousins. Rich would come to our house and stay for days at a time and my brother and I would do the same with him. We played in the barn, rode horses and laughed a lot. We had three other cousins who were always with us also. We were a regular gang. Ha. He had a really nice 1964 yellow Chevy Impala with black leather interior. It was great! He let me drive it once and I almost wrecked it and he just laughed. He was always happy. I did not see him before he joined the Marines. He was still in high school but wanted to join so he could do his duty and get over there. It was a real shock to get the message that he was no longer with us. We all miss him. Thanks for reading this. If you knew him, I would like to hear from you. Robbie Sue Gronewald 223 W. Travis Street, La Grange, Texas 78945 gronewaldr@yahoo.com

 

23 Jan 2006 It's hard to believe today, January 22, 2006, that you have been gone from us for 37 years. I miss you. I miss not ever getting to go to your wedding. I miss having our kids play together and have fun like we all did when we were growing up. You were always so happy and full of life. We all were untill Vietnam changed our lives forever. There were six of us, my brother and sister, our other two cousins and Rich. We were all very close. In the summer our families would get together and we would go to Six Flags and stay all day. That was when Six Flags first came to Arlington. We had a lot of fun. We always enjoyed being together. I liked what Bill Beck said in the Documentary, "They Were Young and Brave". He said, "People say, 'What did you fight for? We fought for each other. We fought for survival. We were a team. We were brothers.'". I know my cousin Rich must have had a lot of friends and brothers over there that loved him as we did. He had a charismatic personality and he was a true friend. He was so young and brave. I would love to hear from anyone who knew my cousin. My name is Donna Elder. I am the oldest cousin as I am now 61. My email is donnae20@hyperhog.net From his eldest cousin, Donna Elder P. O. Box 690, Bangs, Texas 76823 donnae20@hyperhog.net

 

A Note from The Virtual Wall On 22 Jan 1969 an engineer team from C Company, 1st Engineer Battalion was conducting mine sweeping operations along Highway 540 about 8 kilometers south-southwest of Danang. H&S Company, 1/7 Marines provided the engineers with an infantry security force. An ambush on the sweep team developed into a short but vicious firefight which resulted in the deaths of five Marines and one Navy Corpsman: C Co, 1st Eng Bn Cpl John F. Weaver, Kansas City, MO LCpl Johnny S. Holt, Charlotte, NC LCpl Kenneth W. Mokuau, Wenonah, NJ H&S Co, 1st Bn, 7th Marines LCpl William M. Mooers, Los Angeles, CA LCpl Aubra E. Morgan, Arlington, TX HN Joseph A. Wilk, Newport News, VA

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