HONORED ON PANEL 11E, LINE 109 OF THE WALL
WILLIAM NEWCOMER FEASTER
WALL NAME
WILLIAM N FEASTER
PANEL / LINE
11E/109
DATE OF BIRTH
CASUALTY PROVINCE
DATE OF CASUALTY
HOME OF RECORD
COUNTY OF RECORD
STATE
BRANCH OF SERVICE
RANK
REMEMBRANCES
LEFT FOR WILLIAM NEWCOMER FEASTER
POSTED ON 5.28.2008
POSTED BY: Robert Sage
We Remember
William is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
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POSTED ON 2.26.2005
POSTED BY: Dave Kruger
A great man
POSTED ON 5.29.2004
POSTED BY: CLAY MARSTON
IN REMEMBRANCE OF THIS FINE YOUNG UNITED STATES ARMY CHAPLAIN CAPTAIN WHOSE NAME SHALL LIVE FOREVER MORE
CAPTAIN
WILLIAM NEWCOMER FEASTER
served as a
CHAPLAIN
in the
UNITED STATES ARMY
and at the time of his death on
26 October 1966
from injuries suffered while out on a
Search and Destroy Mission
with a unit of the
196th LIGHT INFANTRY BRIGADE
on 18 September 1966
The troops made contact with a well-entrenched enemy base camp and immediately received injuries from the enemy shooting from secluded trenches and camouflaged foxholes connected through the tunnel complexes.
Although forward visibility in the jungle entanglement was less than a yard, Captain Feaster assisted the hectic medic plunging into the battle to back up his unanswered calls.
An enemy mine connected to a trip wire exploded, blasting its hot shrapnel into the tree next to him.
All of it, that is, save a sharp chunk which carved a piece out of his leg, obliterating the nerve endings.
Captain Feaster struggled forward to retrieve another wounded soldier.
The chaplain's wound was unnoticed until he escorted the man to the Command Post where his commanding officer noticed his ripped pants with white bone at the base of the V of red flesh.
He directed the medic to tie the gap together with first aid gauze, then ordered the chaplain to remain at the CP with the other wounded.
By the time the MEDEVAC chopper was able to penetrate the jungle canopy with its gurney, this number of wounded had increased.
Although the CO told Chaplain Feaster to leave, this altuistic hero insisted on remaining at the battleground caring for "... those more needy."
The jungle's extreme humidity and temperature, coupled with his prolonged evacuation, caused a rampant infection.
His leg was amputated shortly after arriving at the hospital in Saigon.
His wife, an Army Nurse, was flown to Vietnam from her assignment at the United States Army Hospital in Seoul, South Korea.
She then cared for her husband, lying very sick in a body cast.
In his typical concerned manner, he expressed apprehension about the amputation interfering with his chaplain work.
On 26 October 1966
Chaplain Captain
WILLIAM NEWCOMER FEASTER
became the youngest chaplain to die in Vietnam at the age of 28.
Taken from a story by
RAY PEZZOLI JR
in the
March 2004
issue of the magazine of the
196th LIGHT INFANTRY BRIGADE ASSOCIATION
YOU ARE NOT FORGOTTEN
NOR SHALL YOU EVER BE
~ ~ ~ R E M E M B R A N C E ~ ~ ~
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