THE WALL OF FACES

Operation Mameluke Thrust (May 19 - October 23, 1968) was a U.S. Marine Corps operation southwest of Da Nang in Quang Nam Province, RVN. The 1st Marine Division was ordered to conduct spoiling attacks into the valleys west of Da Nang and around Thuong Duc Special Forces (SF) Camp. The loss of nearby Kham Duc SF Camp a week earlier raised concerns that the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) would next seek to overrun Thuong Duc. As part of the operation, the 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines were tasked with keeping National Route QL-5 open to An Hoa, and QL-14 open to Thuong Duc. On July 27th, Company K, 3/7, began a sweep into the southwestern “Dodge City” area, a region known to be the staging area and command post for NVA and Viet Cong troops planning attacks on U.S. bases at Da Nang located 10 miles south. At 2:00 PM the following day, 2nd Platoon, K/3/7, was moving through an open rice field at Giao Nghi, five kilometers (3.0 miles) east of the Dai Loc-Ai Nghia Bridge, when they began receiving heavy machine gun and automatic weapons fire from an estimated reinforced NVA company concealed in bunkers in a tree line. The rest of K Company moved to assist and became pinned down with 2nd Platoon in the open rice paddy with little cover. The Marines returned fire with unit weapons and called artillery and air strikes on the enemy positions. L/3/7 and a platoon from M/3/7 were dispatched to assist the beleaguered Marines who were unable to move in any direction. With the supporting arms, the Marines assaulted the enemy fortifications, enabling others to retrieve their fallen comrades. Eighteen Marines and one Navy corpsman were killed in the fighting and another 40 were wounded requiring evacuation. The lost personnel included 2LT William S. Smoyer, SSGT David L. Brooks, HM3 Wayne M. Caron (posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor), CPL Edward J. Downs (posthumously awarded the Silver Star), CPL Philip L. Gosselin, CPL Daniel E. Lloyd, CPL Anthony C. Pino, CPL John R. Serrano (posthumously awarded the Silver Star), LCPL George S. Johnson, LCPL Douglas M. Kelly, LCPL Robert C. Lee, LCPL James C. Markel Jr., LCPL Carl R. Miller, LCPL Raphael J. Rendon, LCPL Richard E. Urban, PFC John M. Lancaster, PFC Jorge Martinez (posthumously awarded the Silver Star), PVT John E. Rice, and PVT John J. Till. Enemy losses were put at five NVA dead. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org and “Command Chronology [3d Bn 7th Marines” at ttu.edu]

A butterfly lights beside us like a sunbeam
And for a brief moment its glory
and beauty belong to our world
But then it flies again
And though we wish it could have stayed...
We feel lucky to have seen it.

I was the Marine who brought John home to his family in Louisville. An honor that has me remembering for over 50 years.
Johns’ family treated me with such respect and love. I will always hold this honor as a treasured one.

I am Sgt. Jeff Hamil, in 1968 up until his death John was in my Squad in 2nd Platoon. A great friend and a great Marine. He died bravely fighting off a superior force of NVA. I CARRY HIS NAME IN MY WALLET TO THIS DAY. SEmper FI.

Semper Fidelis Marine
Proud to have served with you, we were just kids doing what was right for our country