Honoring Three Who Died in Vietnam on the Fourth of July 1971

 

On this Fourth of July, pause to remember the three men who gave their lives in the service of our country in Vietnam 50 years ago, on Independence Day 1971.

·        -- Navy Electrician’s Mate Manolo Briones Agnes, 23

·        -- Army First Lieutenant Victor Walter Lew, 28

·        -- Army Specialist Fourth Class Richard Michael Purcell, 22

Manolo Briones Agnes, 23, was from San Pablo City in the Philippines. He died in an accident on July 4, 1971 when struck by a South Vietnamese Navy ambulance near the Vietnamese Navy Dispensary at Cat Lo.

Manolo Agnes and Wife Emma

In 2018 his widow, Emma Alcos Agnes, wrote the following on his memorial page on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial web site. It had been 47 years since his death, and she was 68 years old:

“Out of the 1 year and 11 months we were married we only spent like 4 months altogether. He was stationed in Virginia and at Camp Pendleton. He told me that he volunteered to go to Vietnam so he could come home to Phil for R&R. I think he was only in Vietnam for less than three weeks when the casualty happened. He died so very young. I occasionally see him in my dreams. Unfortunately, we didn’t have any child. Although he’s not with me anymore, I’m still happy and proud I was once married to him. The kindest, loving husband one could ever ask for.”

Manolo Agnes is one of 27 American servicemen killed in Vietnam whose Home of Record is the Philippines. Many more men of Filipino descent who lived in the United States served in the war. A Facebook page dedicated to Filipinos who served in Vietnam can be found at https://www.facebook.com/FilipinosVietnamWarMilitaryService/timeline.

Lieutenant Victor Walter Lew was a Renaissance man. He held bachelor’s and master’s degrees in history, did doctoral studies, and served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Ecuador. He was a combat infantry officer in Vietnam.

Lt. Lew died July 4, 1971 at age 28, killed by shrapnel from a mine while serving with the 196th Light Infantry Brigade in Quang Nam Province. He is buried at the Fort Rosencrans National Cemetery in San Diego.

Lieutenant Victor Walter Lew

 Born April 14, 1943 in Lombard, Illinois, Lt. Lew was named for both parents – mother Victoria and father Walter. The family moved to Chula Vista, California when he was a child. His father served as a Machinist Mate in the Navy aboard the USS Kennison in the Pacific during World War II.

Specialist Richard Michael Purcell, of Bel Ridge, Missouri, was wounded on June 25, 1971 in a rocket attack. He lost both legs and suffered other injuries, and died on July 4. Ironically, his brother, Robert John Purcell, also lost both legs in Vietnam a year earlier, on June 12, 1970.He survived, but died in 1977 at age 29. Two other brothers, James and Raymond, served in the Korean War. Specialist Purcell is interred at the Jefferson Barracks Cemetery in St. Louis.