THE WALL OF FACES

Thank you for serving Petty Officer Harlow when so may refused. Rest in eternal peace Sir.

Petty Officer Third Class John Brayton Harlow Jr., Served with the Headquarters and Service Company, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, Third Marine Amphibious Force. He was assigned to Company M, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, He was assigned to Company M, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, when he died in a grenade accident.

Thank you for your service to our country so long ago sir. As long as you are remembered you will remain in our hearts forever….

The Third Marine Division were the first U.S. Marines to be sent to Vietnam in March 1965 to protect the Da Nang Air Base. In October 1966, the Marines were directed to establish strong points just south of the Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). In response, the 3rd Division moved its headquarters from Da Nang to Phu Bai in late 1966. The division built outposts along the southern half of the DMZ, including at The Rockpile (also known as Elliot Combat Base), a solitary karst rock outcropping north of National Highway QL-9. It was a relatively inaccessible location, reached only by helicopter, and served as an observation post and artillery base from 1966 to 1969. On October 10, 1968, an incident occurred at Elliott that took the lives of two M Company, 3/3 Marines personnel and wounded three others. Reportedly, a sandbag half-filled with dirt was dropped and exploded. The blast killed one, Navy corpsman HM3 John B. Harlow Jr., and injured four Marines, each of which required medical evacuation. One man, rifleman PFC Charles S. Petterson, was flown to the hospital ship USS Sanctuary (AH-17) with shrapnel wounds to the head. He succumbed to his injuries October 28, 1968. An initial investigation indicated one or more M26 grenades and a handheld illumination flare were packed into the sandbag with the dirt. It was surmised that the flare ignited, causing the grenades to cook off and explode. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org]

Never forgotten.

Semper Fi, Doc