This Military Service Page was created/owned by
CW2 Phillip M. Kemp (Mike)
to remember
Breski, Joseph, Jr., 1LT.
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Casualty Info
Home Town Kittanning
Last Address Kittanning
Casualty Date Jun 06, 1969
Cause KIA-Killed in Action
Reason Air Loss, Crash - Land
Location Binh Long (Vietnam)
Conflict Vietnam War
Location of Interment Lawn Haven Burial Estates - Worthington, Pennsylvania
Status: Killed In Action from an incident on 06/06/1969 while performing the duty of Aircraft Commander.
Age at death: 21.7
Flight class: 68-524/68-44
Aircraft: UH-1H tail number 68-15585 Position in vehicle: co-pilot
Started Tour: 04/04/1969
single male U.S. citizen
Race: Caucasian
Religion: Roman Catholic
The following information secondary, but may help in explaining this incident.
Category of casualty as defined by the Army: battle dead Category of personnel: active duty Army Military class: officer
This record was last updated on 05/25/1998
Information on U.S. Army helicopter UH-1H tail number 68-15585
The Army purchased this helicopter 0469
Total flight hours at this point: 00000020
Date: 06/06/1969
Incident number: 69060666.KIA
UTM grid coordinates: XT326899
Original source(s) and document(s) from which the incident was created or updated: Defense Intelligence Agency Helicopter Loss database. Also: OPERA (Operations Report. )
Loss to Inventory
Joe: So much time has passed as it has been 38 years now since you left us. I wish so much you could have been here so I could share all the joys in my life, like my family. I have tried to find out as much about those last 2 months and about you, Joe, as I could. I have learned a lot, and I know you would probably be mad at me for spending so much time trying to find out about you, but it was because of how I feel about you. You made such an impression on me, Joe, that I will never forget you nor stop thinking about you. I am so proud of what you became and what you did with your life in such a short period of time, but it makes my heart ache every time I think about losing you and never being able to share things that brothers share. I have tried to live my life as full as possible as I know this would be a dedication of your life that you could not have. I love my family so much that I want to share them with you but I know that I cannot. It makes me sad to think that you will never have the chance to have the joy of having children. They are such a joy that words cannot describe it, and they make me so proud.
Some of the men that you served with, Joe, are now gone from this life. It makes me sad to lose them as well. Whenever I get the chance, Joe, I tell people about you and what you did. I miss you.
Your kid brother,
Harry
Harry L. Breski hbreski@comcast.net
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Description This campaign was from 23 February to 8 June 1969. From Tet 1969 through the month of June, the enemy again tried to sustain an offensive. His inability to do so can be largely attributed to aggressive allied ground operations. Between 23 February and 8 June 1969, a total of 70 significant named ground operations were terminated resulting in heavy enemy loss of life and materiel. The main operations concluded during this period were:
(1). The 3d Marine Division's Operation KENTUCKY aimed at preventing enemy infiltration through the Demilitarized Zone in central Quang Tri Province. Throughout the early part of January 1969, Viet Cong/North Vietnamese Army forces continued to avoid major contacts with Free World Forces. Their continual movement to avoid friendly forces or to search for food and supplies contributed to a decrease in the enemy-initiated ground attacks and attacks-by-fire in Quang Tri Province.
(2). Operation NEVADA EAGLE, initiated on 17 May 1968 in Thua Thien Province, continued in 1969 as the U.S. 101st Airborne Division continued to defeat enemy personnel, and capture rice caches, material, and installations within its large area of operations, where it undertook offensive sweeps along Route 547 and around Song Bo.
(3). Two battalions of the 4th Marine Regiment were engaged in Operation SCOTLAND II. Initiated on 15 April 1968, this multi-battalion search and clear operation was centered in and around Khe Sanh.
(4). The IV Corps Tactical Zone Dry Weather Campaign began on 1 December 1968 in support of the overall mission to prevent Viet Cong units from interfering with pacification efforts. This operation, "Speedy Express," interdicted lines of enemy communication and denied him the use of base areas. In 1969 the 1st Brigade, 9th U.S. Infantry Division continued the operation in Dinh Tuong Province, using its highly successful night ambush tactics while the 2d Brigade continued its mission with the Mobile Riverine Force. Although engagements in Operation SPEEDY EXPRESS were typically small, the 9th Infantry Division fought several sizeable engagements with impressive results.
On 23 February U.S. Navy units and installations at Da Nang, Tan An, Ben Luc, Go Dan Ha, and Tra Cu came under numerous and widespread attacks associated with a new enemy offensive, but since many units in these areas were poised to meet these attacks they caused only minimal damage. April saw the heaviest cumulative enemy activity in the barrier interdiction camapign to date.
