Shadow box

Date of Birth March 1, 1938
Listed as Caucasian – Puerto Rican
Roman Catholic
Married

Wife: Candida Ileana Rubio, Hato Bey, Puerto Rico. (1933 – 2013).
Son: Edgarde Rubio (4 years old at time of father’s death)
Daughter: Ileana Rubio

Father: Euripides Rubio, Ponce, Puerto Rico
Mother: Luisa M. Velazquez, Ponce, Puerto Rico

Regular Army
Length of Service in US Army about 10 Years

Vietnam Tour of Duty Started July 10, 1966.
Date of Death in Vietnam November 8, 1966.

Cause of Death from multiple gunshot wounds to his chest and neck areas from hostile action during the Battle of Ap Cha Do, in Military Region 3, III Corps RVN, North of Saigon.
Posthumously Awarded the Medal of Honor.

Age at Death 28

Checking the files on NARA-AAD for VN KIA on 11-7-66 and 11-8-66, for the Ap Cha Do battle I found approximately 22 U.S. Army personnel who died in this battle, primarily from the 1st Battalion, 28th Infantry Regiment (Black Lions), 1st Brigade (Ace of Spades), 1st Infantry Division (Big Red One). The 1/28 may have been operating out of Phuoc Vinh, north of Saigon Area at this time. The names and their rank for several of the soldiers that I found are listed below. Accuracy has not been verified. I, Gary McJimsey, SP5 MOS 91C20 Clinical Specialist, served with HHC, 1st Battalion, 28th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division from mid-February 1968 until the end of July 1968, operating out of Quan Loi at that time. The battle of November 1966 was still being talked about in 1968.

The book First Infantry Division in Vietnam “Big Red One” by Turner, 1993, Turner Publishing Company, page 50, lists Ap Cha Do as a Major Battle, November 8, 1966, showing both the 1st and 2nd Battalions involved in the battle. 484 enemies noted as killed. No notation on how many US military killed. Location of the battle indicated 50 miles northwest of Saigon in the Tay Ninh Province of South Vietnam.

Excerpt from the book – Page 97:

“On November 5th (1966), the entire 1st Infantry Division was plunged into action in Tay Ninh Province, where embattled elements of the 25th (Infantry) Division were fighting two regiments of Viet Cong.

At daybreak on the morning of the 8th (November 1966) the listening posts and ambush patrols were coming in and the Black Lions conducted a recon-by-fire around the perimeter. As the recon-by-fire moved along the northern perimeter from east to west two trip flares went off and many Viet Cong weapons began firing into the perimeter from the north and northeast. Air and artillery support were immediately requested from Brigade. By 1100 hours, the fight had been reduced to automatic weapons and sniper fire, and the badly beaten Viet Cong began to withdraw, leaving the battlefield littered with bodies, equipment and weapons. CPT Euripides Rubio, Jr., from Headquarters Company was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroism during the battle. The Battalion Commander, LTC Jack G. Whitted and SP4 Kirk James each received the Distinguished Service Cross for heroic action in this engagement. It was to become known as the Battle of Ap Cha Do and 484 VC were killed. On the 11th of November (1966), at Dau Tieng, over 100 awards for valor were presented to the victorious Black Lions in a colorful awards ceremony by the Division Commanding General, Major General William E. DePuy.”

Black Lions Killed In Action November 8, 1966, in The Battle of Ap Cha Do, Tay Ninh Province, RVN. Listed by Company and Rank:

Note by Gary McJimsey, ATWS Member. Some information located indicates perhaps 21 Americans killed in action, 42 American wounded with only 'nearly 400 VC lost'; reference The Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War: A Political, Social, and Military History, Spencer C. Tucker, Editor, 2nd Edition.

Rubio, Euripides, Jr., CPT