THE WALL OF FACES

Mike and I were thick as thieves at Electronics School. We spent time at his Aunt's (I believe), & went to Disneyland together. Mike ended up in Radio OP School & I went on & finished Tech School. I was assigned to 1st Shore Party Bn in June 66, & found out Mike was just up the road from me. We had planned to get together, Mike was killed 2 days before that planned meeting. He has been in my heart & memory ever since

Dear Lcpl Michael Romanchuk, Thank you for your service as a Field Radio Operator. Your 73rd birthday just passed, happy birthday. Saying thank you isn't enough, but it is from the heart. It is Columbus Day Weekend. Time moves quickly. Please watch over America, it stills needs your strength, courage and faithfulness, especially now. Rest in peace with the angels.

It's been a lot of years,but I've never forgotten our youth together. RIP Mike, A really pointless and shameful loss.

The M50 Ontos was a U.S. light armored tracked anti-tank vehicle developed in the 1950s. During the Vietnam War, the Ontos was widely used by the U.S. Marines for direct fire support for infantry in combat. Its light armor was effective against small arms but vulnerable to mines and rocket-propelled grenades. On December 22, 1966, an Ontos (A-34) from 1st Platoon, A Company, 1st Antitank Battalion, 1st Marine Division was on a reconnaissance patrol three miles southwest of Dien Ban, Quang Nam Province, RVN, when it ran over a pressure-type mine estimated at 100-140 pounds of explosives. The blast killed one Marine, LCPL Victor Tarasuk, wounded three others, and destroyed the vehicle. The wounded were evacuated by helicopter. One of those, radioman LCPL Michael G. Romanchuk, succumbed three days later at Naval Support Activity Station Hospital in Da Nang. Another of the injured, SSGT James S. Pandavela, was paralyzed from the mid-waist down after being blown off the top of the vehicle. Despite his physical handicap, Pandavela became a blackbelt in judo and taught the art of self-defense to other individuals in wheelchairs at Long Beach Veterans Hospital in Long Beach, CA. He died in January 2000 at the age of 62. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org, wikipedia.org, Command Chronology, 1st Battalion, 1st Marines, December 1966, and “Disabled PC Students Continuing Active Lives.” Blade-Tribune (Oceanside, CA), December 16, 1975]

I remember Mike from school. He was a few grades ahead of me. He was a very nice person, polite, courteous, smart. I'm proud that he became a Marine to serve our country, but I'm so sad he died there. It's such a waste. He would have been a fine man.