THE WALL OF FACES

On September 18, 1965, a platoon from Company G, 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines, was conducting a combat patrol in Quang Nam Province, RVN, when they became engaged in a firefight with an estimated Viet Cong platoon. At 4:30 PM, they contacted 1st Battalion, 1st Marines and requested reinforcement. Company C, 1/1 was ordered to provide a supporting element of two reinforced squads to aid Company G. At 5:00 PM, the reinforcing element came under intense fire as they approached the hamlet of La Chau (3), two miles southeast of the Tuy Loan Bridge. The Marines initiated fire and maneuver tactics from the east and west side of the Song Yen River. Movement under fire was slow due to the presence of enemy mines and booby-traps. 2LT Walter N. Levy from 2nd Platoon, C/1/1, tripped a bobby-trap and sustained a severe leg wound. Medical corpsman HN3 Harold A. Bird moved to aid him and was wounded enroute. Arriving at Levy’s side, Bird fell, and Levy attempted to aid him when he was wounded a second time. Helicopter evacuation was requested, and air support was required to secure the landing zone. Marine UH-1E helicopter gunships made strafing and rocket runs on the enemy positions. Fixed-wing aircraft were unable to provide support due to the proximity of friendly troops but did make simulated strafing and bombing runs to suppress enemy fire. Both men were evacuated; Levy and Bird later succumbed to their wounds. The unit persisted in their advance to the river bank and held the ground in that area. Enemy casualties were not confirmed. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org and “Command Chronology (1st Bn 1st Marines), September 1965” at ttu.edu]

Semper Fi, Doc

Thank you for your service to our country so long ago sir. As long as you are remembered you will always be with us...

DEAR PETTY OFFICER HAROLD BIRD,
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE AS A HOSPITAL CORPSMAN 3RD CLASS WITH THE 3RD MARINES. SEMPER FI. THANKS FOR THE LIVES YOU SAVED. IT HAS BEEN FAR TOO LONG FOR ALL OF YOU TO HAVE BEEN GONE. WE APPRECIATE ALL YOU HAVE DONE, AND YOUR SACRIFICE. WATCH OVER THE U.S.A., IT STILL NEEDS YOUR COURAGE.. GOD BLESS YOU. MAY THE ANGELS BE AT YOUR SIDE. REST IN PEACE. MANY OF US HAVE BEGUN OUR JOURNEY TO EASTER. YOU ARE ALL IN OUR PRAYERS.

Harold Alvin Bird
Harold was a corpsman who watched out for his marines
during the attack on Da Nang.
Harold Alvin Bird was born to Mr. and Mrs. Maurice A.
Bird on August 5, 1943, in Clymer, New York. He and his
brothers, Maurice Jr., Eugene and John, joined their parents
in the family move to Lompoc, California; however, his
sister Nancy remained in New York. Harold completed the
first two years of high school at Lompoc in Santa Barbara
County. After the family resettled in Boulder Creek in
1960, he enrolled in San Lorenzo Valley High School and
graduated with honors in 1962.
Harold Bird enlisted in the local US Naval Reserve
Surface Division and went on active duty in 1962. After
completing training at the US Naval Training Center in
San Diego, he was sent to a hospitalman school to become
a navy hospitalman or marine corpsman. Bird, who considered
making the navy his career, was promoted to hospital
corpsman third class and sent to Camp Pendleton for field
training. After graduation he was sent to Vietnam.
Harold arrived in Vietnam on August 5, 1965 and was
assigned to Charlie Company of the 1st Regiment, 1st
Battalion of the 1st Marine Division. He had only been in
Vietnam five weeks when Viet Cong guerillas attacked the
Da Nang air base that his unit was guarding. In a predawn
hand-to-hand assault on September 18, 1965, Hospitalman
Third Class Harold Alvin Bird was shot and killed while
attending to wounded marines.
His body was recovered and returned to California where
he was buried in the Golden Gate National Cemetery in San Bruno
Source
Remembering our Own
The Santa Cruz County Military Roll of Honor 1861-2010
By Robert L Nelson
The Museum of Art & History @ The McPherson Center
2010
Page 205