Memorial Day

[SumJongGuy]

Let's be sure to also remember the soldiers who made it home but never felt like they were home. PTSD related deaths (addiction disorders, suicides, etc.) are considered combat related by the DOD.

[mcski]

My uncle Francis was killed on DDay when the toothpick glider he was in got blown out of the sky. Dude already survived Africa and Italy campaigns but didn’t get to kill any Nazis in France

[billyk]

My best friend in High School, Archie McDaniels, died in Vietnam. My older brother Joe was an army ranger LRRP. The very tip of the spear. Small patrols of around 8 men dropped off in enemy territory to do reconnaissance. Later, they ran “hunter killer” missions to set ambushes.

Archie idolized Joe, and tried to follow in his footsteps. He joined the Army, went to Ranger school and LRRP training, just as my brother had done.

One month after arriving in Vietnam, Archie was helping set up a display on a stage outside a barracks for a dog and pony show. They were going to demonstrate the weapons and tools of the trade to visiting VIPs.

Archie slung a backpack filled with claymore mines and grenades up on the stage, and it exploded. The speculation is that grenade pin was jarred loose which triggered a massive secondary explosion from the claymores and other explosives already on the stage.

Archie was killed, along with a couple other guys working with him. Several other soldiers were injured, including a guy sitting with his back to the wall inside the barracks behind the stage. His back was impregnated with wood splinters from the wall.

When this happened, I only heard that he had died from a “grenade explosion”. I learned the full story many years later when I happened to google his name.

[billyk]

My best friend in High School, Archie McDaniels, died in Vietnam. My older brother Joe was an army ranger LRRP. The very tip of the spear. Small patrols of around 8 men dropped off in enemy territory to do reconnaissance. Later, they ran “hunter killer” missions to set ambushes.

Archie idolized Joe, and tried to follow in his footsteps. He joined the Army, went to Ranger school and LRRP training, just as my brother had done.

One month after arriving in Vietnam, Archie was helping set up a display on a stage outside a barracks for a dog and pony show. They were going to demonstrate the weapons and tools of the trade to visiting VIPs.

Archie slung a backpack filled with claymore mines and grenades up on the stage, and it exploded. The speculation is that grenade pin was jarred loose which triggered a massive secondary explosion from the claymores and other explosives already on the stage.

Archie was killed, along with a couple other guys working with him. Several other soldiers were injured, including a guy sitting with his back to the wall inside the barracks behind the stage. His back was impregnated with wood splinters from the wall.

When this happened, I only heard that he had died from a “grenade explosion”. I learned the full story many years later when I happened to google his name.

It’s not lost on me that if Archie had not been my friend, there’s very little chance he’d have died in this particular way.

[billyk]

I’ll try to post some screen shots of a section of a book that describes the accident, mostly from the point of view of the guy who was injured inside the barracks. His name is McConnel. Leto and Salmenin were the two guys who died other than Archie.

I ran these screenshots through photoshop, so hopefully they don’t get rotated, but fingers crossed.

[billyk]

Re-edited page 2

[billyk]

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[billyk]

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[billyk]

Last page.