THE WALL OF FACES

Captain Mac was my favorite officer because he would never tell a subordinate to do anything that he would not do himself; and consequently, I was willing to do anything for him. Unlike many Marine officers I knew, he was a humble and caring man who will never be forgotten.

On March 9, 1968, a group of Marines and Navy corpsmen from 2nd Combined Action Group, Combined Action, based at Camp Horn, the III Marine Amphibious Force (III MAF) headquarters outside of Da Nang, RVN, were conducting a field inspection of combined action platoons in Quang Nam Province, RVN. The group was traveling on Route 538 enroute to Hoi An village in a jeep and M37 truck when two miles northeast of their destination the convoy was hit by command-detonated mines. Seven Americans and one Vietnamese national were killed in the blast. The lost U.S. personnel included LCPL Rickey E. Appleby, MAJ William H. Beckwith, SSG Richard D. Feiro, LTC Francis R. Hittinger Jr., HMC Patrick D. Moriarity, CPL Alton Thomas Jr., and CAPT McCrea B. Tuttle. An eighth Marine wounded in the explosion, LCPL Forbis P. Durant Jr., died the following day. Another two Navy corpsmen accompanying the group were wounded. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org and information provided by Gary Nash (June 2018)]

The war may be forgotten but the warrior will always be remembered !!!! All gave Some-Some gave All. Rest in peace McCrea. :-(

Mac and I served together all of 1966 with 2/6, the first 6 months at Camp LeJeune and the last 6 months on a Med cruise. In early '67 we attended the Army Special Warfare School at Ft. Bragg, NC, then served together as platoon commanders at staging battalion, Camp Pendelton. We were together at Camp Horn, III MAF, when Mac was KIA. Mac was an outstanding Marine Officer.

Semper Fi, Captain.