CARL WILLIAM HUDGINS, JR.
Posted for: CARL WILLIAM HUDGINS JR:
HEY, BUD, IT'S ME, DAVID BURFORD. I JUST WANTED TO LET YOU KNOW I'M STILL AROUND. WHEN I HEARD THE NEWS BACK AT THE STATION IT WAS LIKE SOME GUY HAD GIVEN ME A GRENADE TO HOLD, PULLED THE PIN, AND WALKED AWAY. AFTER ALL THIS TIME, I'M STILL HOLDING THE GRENADE. THIS IS THE WAY PACIFIC STARS AND STRIPES CARRIED THE STORY ON SATURDAY, JUNE 14, 1969: "MINE KILLS CHAPLAIN, 3 AFVN NEWSMEN. S&S, VIETNAM BUREAU. SAIGON - THREE ARMED FORCES TELEVISION NETWORK NEWSMEN, A CHAPLAIN, AND TWO OTHER AMERICAN SERICEMEN WERE KILLED SATURDAY WHEN THEIR TRUCK STRUCK A MINE ABOUT SEVEN MILES SOUTH OF DANANG, U.S. HEADQUARTERS SAID THURSDAY. THE NEWSMEN KILLED WERE JO1 WILLIAM R. WILSON,27, A WRITER FROM KANSAS CITY, MO; PH2 CARL W. HUDGINS, 21, A PHOTOGRAPHER FROM BELTON, MO; AND ROBERT G. STRICKLIN, 26, A PHOTOGRAPHER FROM REDONDO BEACH, CA. ANNOUNCEMENT HAD BEEN WITHHELD UNTIL KIN WERE NOTIFIED. THE TRIO WAS FILMING THE FINAL EPISODE OF A SIX PART SERIES ON THE ACTIVITIES OF MILITARY CHAPLAINS IN VIETNAM. THE SEGMENT, TITLED "THE CIRCUIT RIDER" WAS DESIGNED TO SHOW CHAPLAINS WORKING CLOSE TO SOLDIERS IN COMBAT. THE SERIES' TECHNICAL ADVISOR, ARMY CHAPLAIN DON L. BARTLEY, WAS ALSO KILLED, AS WERE HIS ASSISTANT AND THE THREE-QUARTER TON TRUCK'S DRIVER. THE ASSISTANT AND DRIVER WERE NOT IDENTIFIED. THE AMERICAN FORCES VIETNAM NETWORK (AFVN) IS AN ADJUNCT OF THE U.S. COMMAND, AND COVERS SOUTH VIETNAM WITH A BLANKET OF AM AND FM RADIO AND TELEVISION. OF ITS MORE THAN 200 SERVICEMEN, ABOUT 30 ARE CONSTANTLY IN THE FIELD GATHERING NEWS AND FEATURE MATERIAL FOR THE NETWORK. EACH OF THE NEWSMEN HAD BEEN WITH AFVN ABOUT A YEAR. CHAPLAIN BARTLEY WAS ALSO WITHIN A MONTH OF HIS ROTATION DATE. AFTER 11 FRONT-LINE MONTHS WITH THE AMERICAL DIVISION HE HAD BEEN SENT TO SAIGON TO WORK ON THE TELEVISION SERIES, A PROJECT HE THOUGHT WAS IMPORTANT."
ETERNAL REST GRANT UNTO HIM, O LORD. LET PERPETUAL LIGHT SHINE UPON HIM. MAY HIS SOUL REST IN PEACE. SEMPER FI, BUD.
Posted by: DAVID BURFORD
Email: kaazzeem@sbcglobal.net
Relationship: We were close friends
Thursday, December 16, 2004
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