Michael Thomas LinvillePrivate First ClassA CO, 1ST BN, 61ST INFANTRY, 5 INF DIV Army of the United States 31 July 1950 - 20 September 1970 Madison Heights, Michigan Panel 07W Line 078 |
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The database page for Michael Thomas Linville
Good day, fellow Americans. I am Terry L. Garrett, a fellow platoon member with Mike Linville. We served in A Company, 1/61 Infantry, 1st Brigade, 5th Infantry Division in northern I corps along the DMZ. Our company, as well as a tank company, were called on to rescue a downed chopper crew and a Ranger Team that had been shot down northeast of Fire Support Base A-4. We rushed to the deadly scene to find the chopper partially submerged in bloody diesel-and-death smelling water. We quickly formed a rescue perimeter and quickly plunged in and began pulling bodies from the wreckage. We then began to take a heavy enemy mortar barrage. You never forget the sound of a screaming mortar as it tears toward the ground. There was very little cover that day ... we laid flat or crouched behind the very few rocks there were. Mike took a bad hit. Our medic and I did all we could to save Mike, but it was in vain. I asked the doc "What can I do?" He looked at me and said "Say a prayer, man, he's dead." Mike was to leave in just a few days to meet his fiancee in Hawaii and get married. GOD REST HIS SOUL. I think nine young men died that horrid day. Whenever I hear howling wind or rustling grass it sometimes reminds me of a place far away when death filled the hot air, and I think of losing a good buddy.
Respectfully, |
A Note from The Virtual WallDuring the night of 19/20 September Recon Team 1-8 from P Company, 75th Rangers was to be inserted into the Demilitarized Zone immediately north of the fire base at Con Thien. The low-level insertion was by a UH-1H (tail number 67-17597) from C Company, 158th Aslt Helo Bn.The UH-1H didn't make it; it was hit by .51 caliber fire and crashed right on the southern boundary of the DMZ. A platoon from A Company 1/61st Infantry was in a defensive position in the area and was sent to secure the crash site. The mortar fire which was received killed two men from Alpha 1/61. The eleven men who died in the helo and recovery operation were
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With all respect
Jim Schueckler, former CW2, US Army
Ken Davis, Commander, United States Navy (Ret)
Memorial first published on 14 Mar 2007
Last updated 08/10/2009