Death Valley_ The Summer Offensive, I Corps, August 1969 - Keith Nolan [174]
Major General Ramsey (CG, Americal Division) retired with almost four years of WWII duty and an extended Vietnam tour, earning three Silver Stars and five Purple Hearts; he gave up command of the division in March 1970 after being injured in a helicopter crash. He is a bank executive in McLean, Virginia. Colonel Tackaberry (CO, 196th InfBde) won his third Distinguished Service Cross during the September 1969 attack on LZ Siberia. As a company commander in Korea and a two-tour man in Vietnam, he also netted five Silver Stars and a Purple Heart, and retired with three stars. He is now a businessman in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Captain Downey (196th InfBde) is a business executive in Los Angeles, California. Specialist 4 Keefer (A/1–1 ArmCav) won a CIB and ARCOM,* then a BSM and his fifth Purple Heart during a 1970–71 tour with his old cavalry troop. It has been a rough mental road since his discharge as a sergeant platoon leader, and he is now a laborer in Ridgely, Maryland.
Lieutenant Colonel Henry (CO, 4–31 Inf) won a Distinguished Flying Cross for his resupply flight to D/4–31 in Song Chang, and a Silver Star and Purple Heart for his on-the-ground command in Hiep Duc. From January to June 1970, he was an ARVN advisor, and he retired as a colonel in 1981 to a cattle ranch in Amity, Arkansas. Major Lee (S-3, 4–31), after two combat tours, won three Bronze Stars for Valor and three more for service; he is now a colonel. Captain Gayler (CO, B/4–31) gave up the company in October 1969, served as Battalion S-1, and rotated with the Silver Star, Bronze Star, and Army Commendation Medals for Valor, and the Purple Heart for a small punji stick wound. He is now a National Guard lieutenant colonel commanding a tank battalion; he lives with his wife and three children in Arlington, Texas, where he is starting an advertising and photography business. Captain Murphy (CO, C/4–31), Captain Thomas (CO, C/4–31), and Captain Mekkelsen (CO, D/4–31) are active-duty lieutenant colonels. Captain Whittecar (CO, D/4–31) earned his third Silver Star and Purple Heart for Song Chang. He retired as a major, is now a management analyst with the Department of the Army, and lives with his family in Salina, Kansas. Captain Kinman (HHC/4–31) is practicing medicine in Vincennes, Indiana. Captain Thomason (CO, C/3–82 Arty) is now a major. First Lieutenant Monroe (B/4–31) commanded the company during the sapper attack on LZ Siberia since Gayler was on R and R; after his discharge, he joined the New York City Police Department. Second Lieutenant Robinson (C/4–31) was WIA at Banana Tree Hill in September 1969; by the time he was rotated and discharged in August 1970 with a BSM, AM, and Purple Heart, he was the company commander. He is divorced and works for an accounting firm in Birmingham, Michigan. Second Lieutenant Wilson (C/4–31) won an Army Commendation Medal for Valor at the Banana Tree Hill fight, and finished his tour as an ammunition officer in Chu Lai. He married his fiancee in May 1970, and was discharged a captain in February 1971; they now have two children and he is a programmer analyst in Greensboro, North Carolina. Sergeant Allison (B/4–31) earned an Army Commendation Medal for Valor and a Purple Heart for Hiep Duc, and rotated in November 1969. He is a reserve captain and, after reenlisting in 1975, is a regular sergeant first class. Specialist 5 Kralich (HHC/4–31) served a second tour with the 101st AbnDiv, and is presently a professional counsellor in a chico hospital in Calif.