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MAJ Mark E Cooper
to remember
Britton, Walter, Jr. (Buddy), CSM.
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Contact Info
Home Town Gowen
Last Address Fayetteville, NC
Date of Passing Sep 04, 2012
Location of Interment Sandhills State Veterans Cemetery - Spring Lake, North Carolina
Official Badges
Unofficial Badges
Additional Information
Last Known Activity:
CSM(R) Walter Britton Jr.
Obituary
FAYETTEVILLE - Walter "Buddy" Britton Jr., 91, of Fayetteville, beloved husband of Frances Lippencott Britton for 69 years, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2012, surrounded by the ones he laughed with, lived for and loved. Walter was born in Gowen, Okla., on Aug. 8, 1921, the eldest of nine children. He graduated from Hartsthorne High School, where he was the football quarterback. He helped his parents farm their land and was an award-winning rodeo competitor in his youth. After high school, during the Great Depression, he served in the Civilian Conservation Corps. He enlisted in the Navy and served in the South Pacific during World War II. He attended Oklahoma A&M University (now Oklahoma State University), where he studied civil engineering. He was called back to military service and served in the Korean War and Vietnam War. He retired from the Army Special Forces in 1967, achieving the rank of command sergeant major. He was a member of the Special Forces Association. During his full and active life, Walter learned several languages, was a voracious reader, a skier and an avid gardener. He enjoyed fishing, cooking, classic Western movies, "pure" country music, a good joke and a clever tale. He loved to dance an energetic jitterbug or a smooth two-step with Frances. He was predeceased by his dearly loved son, David; his parents, Walter Britton Sr. and Pearl Sue Battles Britton; his brothers, Johnny "Jack" Britton and Charles William "CW" Britton; and his sisters, Winnie Masoner and Lucille Perkins. Besides his wife, Frances of Fayetteville, Walter is survived by his brothers, Benjamin Britton and James Britton; sisters, Juanita Burnette and Ann Springer; his four sons, Robert of Fayetteville, James of Columbus, Ohio, Daniel and his wife, Carol, of Harrisburg, Thomas and his wife, Luz, of Fayetteville; three daughters, Kathleen Boone of Fayetteville, Bonnie and her husband, Bill Collins, of Atlanta, and Nancy Robles of Hope Mills; his grandchildren, Vanessa, Shauna, Tyler, Adam, Hunter, Bryan, Walter, Laurel, Eric, Andrew, Karen and Natalie; his great-grandchildren, Kaitlin and Ava; as well as numerous nieces, nephews and other relatives and friends. We thank God for the gift of his life and the blessing of the time we spent with Walter. A memorial service will be held honoring Walter in the chapel of Adcock Funeral Home & Crematory in Spring Lake on Thursday, Sept. 6, 2012, at 11 a.m. Burial will follow in Sandhills State Veterans Cemetery in Spring Lake, at noon with military honors. The family will receive friends and relatives at a visitation at the funeral home from 6 to 8 p.m. today, Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2012. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital , 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105. Services entrusted to Adcock Funeral Home & Crematory of Spring Lake.
Published in Fayetteville Observer on September 5, 2012
Vietnam War/Counteroffensive Phase II Campaign (1966-67)
From Month/Year
July / 1966
To Month/Year
May / 1967
Description This campaign was from 1 July 1966 to 31 May 1967. United States operations after 1 July 1966 were a continuation of the earlier counteroffensive campaign. Recognizing the interdependence of political, economic, sociological, and military factors, the Joint Chiefs of Staff declared that American military objectives should be to cause North Vietnam to cease its control and support of the insurgency in South Vietnam and Laos, to assist South Vietnam in defeating Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces in South Vietnam, and to assist South Vietnam in pacification extending governmental control over its territory.
North Vietnam continued to build its own forces inside South Vietnam. At first this was done by continued infiltration by sea and along the Ho Chi Minh trail and then, in early 1966, through the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). U.S. air elements received permission to conduct reconnaissance bombing raids, and tactical air strikes into North Vietnam just north of the DMZ, but ground forces were denied authority to conduct reconnaissance patrols in the northern portion of the DMZ and inside North Vietnam. Confined to South Vietnamese territory U.S. ground forces fought a war of attrition against the enemy, relying for a time on body counts as one standard indicator for measuring successful progress for winning the war.
During 1966 there were eighteen major operations, the most successful of these being Operation WHITE WING (MASHER). During this operation, the 1st Cavalry Division, Korean units, and ARVN forces cleared the northern half of Binh Dinh Province on the central coast. In the process they decimated a division, later designated the North Vietnamese 3d Division. The U.S. 3d Marine Division was moved into the area of the two northern provinces and in concert with South Vietnamese Army and other Marine Corps units, conducted Operation HASTINGS against enemy infiltrators across the DMZ.
The largest sweep of 1966 took place northwest of Saigon in Operation ATTLEBORO, involving 22,000 American and South Vietnamese troops pitted against the VC 9th Division and a NVA regiment. The Allies defeated the enemy and, in what became a frequent occurrence, forced him back to his havens in Cambodia or Laos.
By 31 December 1966, U.S. military personnel in South Vietnam numbered 385,300. Enemy forces also increased substantially, so that for the same period, total enemy strength was in excess of 282,000 in addition to an estimated 80,000 political cadres. By 30 June 1967, total U.S. forces in SVN had risen to 448,800, but enemy strength had increased as well.
On 8 January U.S. and South Vietnamese troops launched separate drives against two major VC strongholds in South Vietnam-in the so-called "Iron Triangle" about 25 miles northwest of Saigon. For years this area had been under development as a VC logistics base and headquarters to control enemy activity in and around Saigon. The Allies captured huge caches of rice and other foodstuffs, destroyed a mammoth system of tunnels, and seized documents of considerable intelligence value.
In February, the same U.S. forces that had cleared the "Iron Triangle", were committed with other units in the largest allied operation of the war to date, JUNCTION CITY. Over 22 U.S. and four ARVN battalions engaged the enemy, killing 2,728. After clearing this area, the Allies constructed three airfields; erected a bridge and fortified two camps in which CIDG garrisons remained as the other allied forces withdrew.
