CHARLES G COSTIN
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HONORED ON PANEL 40W, LINE 73 OF THE WALL

CHARLES GREY COSTIN

WALL NAME

CHARLES G COSTIN

PANEL / LINE

40W/73

DATE OF BIRTH

02/28/1950

CASUALTY PROVINCE

TAY NINH

DATE OF CASUALTY

11/01/1968

HOME OF RECORD

WARSAW

COUNTY OF RECORD

Duplin County

STATE

NC

BRANCH OF SERVICE

ARMY

RANK

SP4

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Contact Details

REMEMBRANCES

LEFT FOR CHARLES GREY COSTIN
POSTED ON 1.29.2022
POSTED BY: John Fabris

honoring you...

Thank you for your service to our country so long ago sir. I am 72 and have lived a long and fulfilling life. It is tragic you never had that same opportunity. May you rest in eternal peace.
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POSTED ON 2.21.2021
POSTED BY: ANON

Never forgotten

On the remembrance of your 71st birthday, your sacrifice is not forgotten.

Forever 18

HOOAH
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POSTED ON 4.1.2019

Attack on FSB Rita – November 1, 1968

Fire Support Base Rita was located near the Cambodian border in Tay Ninh Province, RVN. The location of the base was part of a U.S. strategy to deprive the North Vietnamese Army from being resupplied from Cambodia on its way to Saigon. Headquarters and Battery B of the 1st Battalion, 5th Artillery (105mm, towed), commanded by LTC Charles C. Rogers, and Battery C, 8th Battalion, 6th Artillery (155mm, self-propelled), were located at FSB Rita. On November 1, 1968, about three months after Rita had been established, it was attacked by a North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong Regiment/Battalion with sappers estimated at 800 men. The attack began at 3:30 AM on the west-northwest perimeter of the base. The assault reportedly followed a scheduled "mad minute" reconnaissance-by-fire by the Americans defending Rita. As the troopers were busy reloading their weapons, the enemy initiated their attack. The enemy was able to penetrate the defensive perimeter after they threw Bangalore torpedoes across the wire, opening a path straight in whereupon they destroyed an ACAV armored personnel carrier and its ammunition, and quickly knocked out two machine guns. The enemy also succeeded in taking one of the 155mm howitzer battery positions. This prompted an American counterattack and the bunkers were retaken. A second attack and penetration were made at 5:15 AM against the southwest perimeter. Again, the enemy was beaten back by an aggressive counterattack, and the defensive positions were reestablished. When the enemy attempted to regain the initiative by attacking the northern perimeter with a third charge, the 105mm howitzers were swung to the north and lethal barrages were fired into the massed assaulting enemy. The enemy body count could not be obtained, but it was estimated that at least 200 bodies lay in the woods around the fire support base the following morning. As the sun rose through the tree line in the near distance, the enemy bodies could be seen nailed up in the branches by flechette rounds that had been fired at point blank range. The ferocious intensity of the battle, with frequent concentrations of enemy mortars impacting in the fire support base until 8:00 AM, was attested to by the massive quantity of ammunition expended by U.S. forces. The field artillery fired 1300 rounds in direct fire and 800 rounds in indirect fire. After the battle, the word on the ground was that there were only two rounds left in the battery in two tubes, the last of the ammo as the fight died out. The defense of the base was supported by air strikes and innumerable strikes by helicopter gunships and fire teams from the 1st Infantry Division. During the battle, U.S. forces suffered fourteen men killed. The lost Americans at Rita included CPL William K. Alameda, SP4 Michael P. Alongi Jr., SGT Thomas W. Bayonet, SP4 Thurl G. Carter III, SGT James M. Ciupinski, SP4 Charles G. Costin, SP4 Ronnie Courtney, SGT James E. Graves, SP4 Wayne K. Laine, PFC James E. Martin, SGT Wendell D. McBurrows, SSG James R. Norris, SP4 Marvin N. Propson, and SP4 Lester Williams Jr. LTC Charles C. Rogers directed the defense of the base with such heroism he was awarded the Medal of Honor. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org, 4thcavassoc.org, and an article by MG David E. Ott in Field Artillery Journal (May-June 1976); also, information provided by Joe Treadway at dvidshub.net]
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POSTED ON 11.1.2018
POSTED BY: Janice Current

An American Hero

Thank you for stepping up and answering your country's call. Thank you for your service and your sacrifice. Rest easy knowing you will never be forgotten.
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POSTED ON 2.3.2018
POSTED BY: Lucy Micik

Thank You

Dear PFC Charles Costin,
Thank you for your service as a Food Service Helper. It is so important for us all to acknowledge the sacrifices of those like you who answered our nation's call. Please watch over America, it stills needs your strength, courage and faithfulness. Rest in peace with the angels.
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