Thomas Anthony GowersSpecialist FourD CO, 815TH ENG BN, 18TH ENG BDE, USARV Army of the United States 06 February 1951 - 21 May 1970 Depauw, Indiana Panel 10W Line 075 |
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The database page for Thomas Anthony Gowers
"To live in the hearts we leave behind,
A memorial initiated by a friend, |
A Note from The Virtual WallIn early May 1970, Delta Company, 815th Engineer Battalion and the 102nd Engineer Company moved from the area around Dak To and Kontum to an isolated base camp adjacent to the village of Phu Hiep. Resupply support was from the Army complex at Dalat and was accomplished by convoys on highway QL-20. On 21 May such a convoy departed Phu Hiep for Dalat.Just short of Dalat a civilian truck collided with the convoy's lead truck, bringing the entire convoy to a halt. Most of the troops dismounted and relaxed, waiting for the accident to get sorted out. Instead, the vehicles and soldiers were violently attacked with small arms, automatic weapons, and rocket-propelled grenades. The convoy commander, realizing they were in an untenable situation, ordered that the accessible wounded should be put aboard the vehicles and a run made for Dalat. This was accomplished, although a number of men could not be brought aboard the trucks. At Dalat the wounded were off-loaded, and an MP platoon mounted out to return to the ambush site. On arrival they found the enemy (and the civilian truck) gone, recovered the men who had been left behind, and accounted for everyone who had been aboard the convoy vehicles. Two men had been killed in the ambush - and one was missing:
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The point-of-contact for this memorial is a friend, Rebecca S. Allen slibra55@aol.com |
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With all respect
Jim Schueckler, former CW2, US Army
Ken Davis, Commander, United States Navy (Ret)
Memorial first published on 27 May 2002
Last updated 10/20/2007