As
we celebrate this Independence Day, I remember the sacrifice of 18 Americans
who died in the service of our country 50 years ago today, July 4, 1966.
Nine
of them were killed when in one engagement when a Marine unit was ambushed. They were:
- Esteban M. Alvarez, 19, Tucson, Arizona
- Larasett E. Avington Jr., 19, Chicago, Illinois
- Johnie Lee Blount Jr., 21, Groton, Connecticut
- Stephen C. Forrest, 18, Westminster, California
- Michael Edward Hopkins, 21, Norfolk, Virginia (Navy Cross)
- Glenn E. Spratley, 21, Houston, Texas
- David W. Terrell, 22, Shreveport, Louisiana
- Homero E. Tijerina, 20, Edinburg, Texas
- Raymond Widmann, 18, Lindenhurst, New York
- (A tenth man, Maxwell S. Frantz, 23, East Aurora, New York, was wounded in the ambush and died 18 days later.)
The others who died that Fourth of July were:
- Guillermo Trujil Bonillas, 34, Tucson, Arizona
- Norris James Denton, 33, Dallas, Texas
- James Otto Gregory Jr., 20, Catawba, North Carolina
- Raymond Carson Griffiths, 19, San Francisco, California (featured in the book Dear America: Letters Home From Vietnam)
- Charles L. Moore, 26, New York, New York
- Robert Daniel Richardson, 23, Poplar Bluff, Missouri
- Elmer Wayne Scarborough, Romulus, Michigan
- Daniel Wayne Stutler, 18, Fairmont, West Virginia
- Theodore Williams Jr., 19, Robbins, Illinois
Take a moment to honor and remember them.
