PHILLIP A LOTTA
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HONORED ON PANEL 5E, LINE 77 OF THE WALL

PHILLIP ANTHONY LOTTA

WALL NAME

PHILLIP A LOTTA

PANEL / LINE

5E/77

DATE OF BIRTH

06/12/1947

CASUALTY PROVINCE

QUANG NAM

DATE OF CASUALTY

02/25/1966

HOME OF RECORD

SACRAMENTO

COUNTY OF RECORD

Sacramento County

STATE

CA

BRANCH OF SERVICE

MARINE CORPS

RANK

PFC

Book a time
Contact Details

REMEMBRANCES

LEFT FOR PHILLIP ANTHONY LOTTA
POSTED ON 4.25.2010
POSTED BY: Jim McIlhenney

Phillip Antony Lotta

Phillip Anthony Lotta, the older of two sons of Italian immigrant Antonio Lotta and his wife Nina Christiansen, was born June 12, 1947 in Sacramento County, California. He had a younger brother, Michael. Phil attended El Camino High School his freshman year, La Sierra High School his sophomore year, and Encina High School his junior and senior years. He left school the month before his 1965 graduation to enlist in the US Marine Corps. Phil was deployed to the South Pacific in November and to Vietnam in January where he served as a Rifleman with Company G, 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines, 3rd Marine Division. At age 18, on February 25, 1966 near Da Nang, Private First Class Lotta was killed by “friendly fire.” He and a buddy had been guarding a bridge during night patrol. When noises were heard coming from the other side of the river, Phil crossed the bridge to assess how many Viet Cong were there and what equipment they were moving. On his way back, his buddy mistook him for the enemy and shot him in the chest, killing him instantly. Realizing his horrible mistake, the buddy carried Phil’s body many miles back to his platoon. (It is said that this young man eventually suffered a nervous breakdown and was discharged from the service.) Phil was buried at Mount Vernon Cemetery in Citrus Heights.



Semper Fidelis, Marine!
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POSTED ON 1.1.2006
POSTED BY: Bob Ross

Do not stand at my grave and weep

Do not stand at my grave and weep.
I am not there; I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow,
I am the diamond glints on snow,
I am the sun on ripened grain,
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning's hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there; I did not die.

Mary Frye – 1932

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POSTED ON 11.2.2005
POSTED BY: Bill Nelson

Never Forgotten

FOREVER REMEMBERED

"If you are able, save for them a place inside of you....and save one backward glance when you are leaving for the places they can no longer go.....Be not ashamed to say you loved them....
Take what they have left and what they have taught you with their dying and keep it with your own....And in that time when men decide and feel safe to call the war insane, take one moment to embrace those gentle heros you left behind...."

Quote from a letter home by Maj. Michael Davis O'Donnell
KIA 24 March 1970. Distinguished Flying Cross: Shot down and Killed while attempting to rescue 8 fellow soldiers surrounded by attacking enemy forces.

We Nam Brothers pause to give a backward glance, and post this remembrance to you, one of the gentle heros lost to the War in Vietnam:

Slip off that pack. Set it down by the crooked trail. Drop your steel pot alongside. Shed those magazine-ladened bandoliers away from your sweat-soaked shirt. Lay that silent weapon down and step out of the heat. Feel the soothing cool breeze right down to your soul ... and rest forever in the shade of our love, brother.

From your Nam-Band-Of-Brothers
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POSTED ON 2.25.2004
POSTED BY: Drew Bunting

In Your Memory

Hello my name is Drew Bunting and I am this remembrance as part of the Gridley High School Posting Project. I would like to say that I believe that it was a great tragedy that you lost your life fighting in a war you should have not been in, also that as long as this country still exist we will never forget your sacrifice.
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POSTED ON 2.25.2004
POSTED BY: Zach Nicolay

Thank you

Dear soldier,
Thank you, My name is Zach Nicolay and I am a student at Gridley High School. This remembrance is part of the Gridley High School Posting Project. There is no way that I can fathom the courage and fearlessness that is required to go to war, and I want to thank you for paying the ultimate sacrifice in order to create a better, safer future for myself and others.
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