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Casualty Info
Home Town Franklin, OH
Last Address Franklin, OH
Casualty Date May 28, 1969
Cause KIA-Killed in Action
Reason Multiple Fragmentation Wounds
Location Kontum (Vietnam)
Conflict Vietnam War
Location of Interment Springboro Cemetery - Springboro, Ohio
Wall/Plot Coordinates 23W 005
Official Badges
Unofficial Badges
Additional Information
Last Known Activity:
In the first half of 1969, three companies of the 299th Combat Engineer Battalion and the 15th Light Equipment Company defended the big American base and air strip at Dak To, RVN, against the North Vietnamese Armys 66th Infantry Regiment and 40th Artillery Regiment. From January through July of 1969, some six hundred bulldozer drivers, crane and front-end loader operators, mechanics, medics, cooks, clerks, truck drivers, and other non-infantry men defended the rugged, jungle-covered mountain in the Central Highlands northwest of Kontum near the Laos and Cambodian borders. From May 9 until the second week of July, the NVA shelled the mountain virtually every day with 122mm rockets, 81mm mortar rounds, recoilless rifles, and B-40 rockets. The deadliest single attack took place on May 28, 1969, when a 122mm NVA rocket came screaming directly into the 15th Light Equipments headquarters bunker. The heavily sandbagged bunker, sunk some twenty feet in the ground, was crowded with engineers, including a thirty-man reaction force.
Nine men, including Company Commander 1LT Franklin L. Koch, were killed. The other lost Americans comprised FSGT Dudley J. Benefiel Jr., SP4 Floyd E. Barber, SP5 James S. Colombero, SP4 Valentine M. Dwornik, SP4 Edward T. Kiezkowski, SP4 David R. Mann, SP4 Dennis R. Meetze, and SFC Luther R. Perkins (who died of his wounds on June 9, 1969). Another nineteen were wounded. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org and digitaledition.qwinc.com and the VVMF]
Comments/Citation:
POSTED ON 5.26.2020. POSTED BY: DAVID HUSS. THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE AND SACRIFICE FOR OUR NATION. I am a Boy Scout from Troop 7 in Springboro, OH. Our Troop installs the flags at the Springboro Cemetery. Thank you for your service to our Nation and I will remember the ultimate sacrifice you made. Our Troop will do our best to recognize you every Memorial Day for years to come. David Huss, Troop 7.
POSTED ON 7.20.2010. POSTED BY: ERIKA. I REMEMBER YOU ALWAYS. We met in Germany and fell in love. We had a short time together but it was magical.Sometimes i still think about what could have been. Forever in my heart.brp.s.brIf a family member sees this you can contact me. after all these years i still have 2 pictures and dog tags i would like to get back to you.
POSTED ON 11.13.2002. POSTED BY: RAY BARBER. TO MY WONDERFUL SON. Gone but not forgotten. Thank you for helping keep our country free. I miss you and love you. Your Dad
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.