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"Mike One Raiders"
These volunteers have just returned from a patrol on the other side
of the Vu Gia River. The purpose of the patrol was to seek out and
destroy a sniper that had been terrorizing the south end of Hill 52.
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The photo below has the Marines numbered for identification.
Listed below the photo are the information about these Marines. Most
of the info has been provided by Sgt. John Kemmerer who was the
1st Platoon Commander at the time. His comments appear as white text.
| 1 | PFC Burroughs | Forward Observer Radio Operator for 81mm Mortars. He lived in the bunker on the right side of the photo. |
| 2 | Unidentified | If you know who this is, please email me. |
| 3 | "Doc" Filberto Aguirre |
"He was barely 18 and he was always with us. He was what all the corpsmen were in M
3/7 were. You would not find him looking for cover when it got heavy. He did as much to watch our
backs as anyone. And as this event would support, he volunteered and would not have
necessarily had to go. He could have left it up to the draw or for someone else to do.
He and I were very close and in fact I was the one who had to go back to Da Nang to identify the body." (KIA 26 August 1967 - ambush) |
| 4 | Cpl Gary "Tiny" Sharpe | "The obvious is that he can bear hunt with a switch. What doesn't show was that he was very even keeled and extremely reliable. He kept a lot of us together and could get a lot accomplished without making it an epic event. He had a hell of a sense of humor and shared it with all. I don't think anyone ever had words with Tiny nor did anyone not like him. He was always there, he was always first to do the work and the first to lend a hand to anyone who needed it even when his job might be done." |
| 5 | PFC Kenny Nevitt | " I see him every reunion. He was a helluva point man." |
| 6 | L/Cpl P. Strausser | "None of us have, as yet, been able to find him. I would give anything to see him where he is at. He was a brother in every sense of the word. Don't think he ever had a bad word for anybody and he was always there when I need him." |
| 7 | Unidentified | If you know who this is, please email me. |
| 8 | L/Cpl Don Johnson | Forward Observer for 81mm Mortars. He lived in the bunker on the right side of the photo. He extended his tour of duty in Vietnam an extra six months, thus making him the longest "in country" in the mortar squad. He went home in October '67 with a broken leg from a jeep accident. If you know his whereabouts, please email me. |
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Sgt John Kemmerer Platoon Commander | " Well, kind of a pain in the ass to some I suppose, but surrounded by my brothers seemed to make it all ok. They were a hell of a bunch of guys." |
| 10 | PFC Danny Casseta | "Just like Kenny, I see him every year and email back and forth the rest of it. Danny was my rock. There isn't anything he wouldn't do or anywhere he wouldn't go. The fact is, all of those guys were like that and it became especially appearant during the time we had no Lt. This guy was always at my side." |
Some other comments from Sgt. John Kemmerer about this mission:
"I was the "three week" platoon commander at the time we went across on that particular trip. Our platoon commander had been medivac out some time before then Sgt Krafcigs who move from Platoon Sgt to Plt Commander got wounded and was taken out. That left me (Sgt John R Kemmerer) as the temp Plt Commander for three weeks. . . .We were the "Mike one Raiders" our call sign was "Mike Bush". We were from mortars and first platoon. I can't believe someone has a good picture of us. . . ."Just as a foot note to the story actually even tho the CO may have wanted it to be a recon, we had it in our mind it was going to be a ambush. We fully intended to get those bastards that kept shooting at the hill (Hill 52). We did get three or four of the lead guys who came down out of the draw before all hell broke loose. You are absolutely correct in that we could not see nor did we have a clue as to there being that many. These guys were all volunteers and it took place during that three week or so period when I was the Platoon Commander (Sgt as a Platoon Commander crazy huh) and Gary "Tiny" Sharpe was the Platoon Sgt. Our Platoon Commander and Plt Sgt had been wounded a day apart and it was left to us. Myself and the guys had talked about it for a long time and we just wanted to take it to them instead of always shooting back from this side of the river (Song Vu Gia). Finally, I think the CO just got tired of me bringing it up and let us go. God most certainly was with us in getting back without a casualty. I think you should mention though that if 81's from the hill hadn't laid down the fire they did right away the story may have been altogether different." |
If you know anyone in this photo or their whereabouts
OR you are in this photo, please
