Honoring Lance Corporal Frank Pietras on his birthday -- Killed in Action in Vietnam July 4, 1967

Today (Feb. 4, 2015) is the birthday of Lance Corporal Frank Martin Pietras, who was killed in action in Vietnam on the Fourth of July 1967. He was 21 when he died and would be 69 today. He is one of 12 men from Kilo Company, 3^rd Battalion, 9^th Marines who died that day during Operation Buffalo. The story of Frank and his "Kilo brothers" is told in my book, Died on the Fourth of July. His Marine comrades nicknamed him “Peaches” from his surname and kidded him for his thick New York accent.

The men of Kilo Company are a close-knit group who have remained in touch and still honor the brothers they lost in Vietnam. One of them is Larry Stevanus, who provided the attached photo. Larry wrote this tribute to Frank on the Fourth of July in 2002:

"Frank Pietras is truly a hero to me. We were in the same platoon and the same squad on the 4th of July 1967. Exactly thirty-five years ago today. I miss him and I think of him often. I have looked his name up on The Wall in Washington DC, and on the moving wall that was in our hometown two years ago. The pain and the memories of that day will never go away, but I am truly blessed to have been able to call Frank my friend."

Lance Corporal Frank Pietras is buried at the St. Raymond’s Cemetery in the Bronx, alongside his parents.