A Leader of Men
Posted for: DENNIS EDWARD HEITNER:
Dennis Heitner was a natural leader, and one of the best platoon leaders in the Second Battalion, 27th Infantry (Wolfhounds). Following his outstanding performance of duty in a fierce battle in the Renegade Woods in Tay Ninh Province 2-6 April 1970, I decided to keep an eye on him for further advancement. I thought he had the potential to be a company commander. But it was not to be. On June 13, while on an ambush patrol with his platoon, he was killed. Over the years, I have often thought of him. He was a capable young officer, one who would have succeeded at anything he tried to do. His loss is emblematic of all the brave sons we lost in the war. The 25th Division yearbook gave to them and and to our other dead this epitaph from the Confederate War Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery:

Not for fame or reward
Not for place or for rank
Not lured by ambition
or goaded by necessity
But in simple obedience to duty
as they understood it
These men suffered all
dared all
and died

God rest you, Dennis and all of the others.
Posted by: Landon McAllister
Email:
Relationship: We served together
Tuesday, October 22, 2002
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Today We Remember
On February 04,
  183 service members made the ultimate sacrifice.
On this day in 1966,
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On this day in 1967,
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On this day in 1970,
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