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Contact Info
Home Town Bremerhaven
Last Address Georgetown, CA
Date of Passing May 29, 1982
Wall/Plot Coordinates Georgetown Pioneer Cemetery, CA
Earl Gurnsey was born on July 22, 1948, in Bremerhaven, Germany, and later immigrated to the United States. He enlisted in the U.S. Army on March 10, 1966, and completed basic training at Fort Ord, California, in May 1966.
Gurnsey next completed Wireman School at Fort Ord in June 1966, Lineman School at Fort Gordon, Georgia, in August 1966, and Basic Airborne training at Fort Benning, Georgia, in September 1966.
His first assignment was as a wireman with Company A of the 501st Signal Battalion at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, from September 1966 to April 1967, followed by service as a radio mechanic and field wireman with Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment of the 173rd Airborne Brigade in South Vietnam from June 1967 to August 1968.
SP4 Gurnsey then volunteered for a 2nd tour of duty in Vietnam, and served as a UH-1 Iroquois helicopter door gunner with the 118th Assault Helicopter Company in South Vietnam from August 1968 until he was captured and taken as a Prisoner of War in Cambodia on November 27, 1968.
After spending 41 days in captivity he was released by his captors on January 6, 1969. SP4 Gurnsey was medically evacuated back to the United States, and was hospitalized at Letterman General Hospital in San Francisco, California, from January 1969 until he was medically retired from the Army on August 13, 1969.
Earl Gurnsey died on May 29, 1982, and was buried at the Georgetown Pioneer Cemetery in Georgetown, California.
Other Comments:
SP4 Earl F. Gurnsey was the door gunner aboard Bandit UH-1C, 66-15015 on 27 November 1968 when the aircraft was struck by .51 cal anti-aircraft fire at XT238290 in the Tay Ninh area, near the Cambodian border.
All aboard the UH-1C gun ship were KIA, except Gurnsey. All efforts to recover SP4 Gurnsey were unsuccessful by both ARVN and 25th Division troops. Some eyewitnesses have said that, "when they flew over the wreckage and tried to drive the enemy soldiers from the area, a "waving hand" could be seen extending from the wrecked aircraft!"
When U.S. troops finally reached the wreckage, the remains of the three crew KIA members were found.
Vietnam War/Counteroffensive Phase IV Campaign (1968)
From Month/Year
April / 1968
To Month/Year
June / 1968
Description This campaign was from 2 April to 30 June 1968. During this period friendly forces conducted a number of battalion-size attritional operations against the enemy.
Operations PEGASUS-Lam Son 207 relieved the Khe Sanh Combat Base on 5 April and thereby opened Route 9 for the first time since August 1967. This operation not only severely restricted the North Vietnamese Army's use of western Quang Tri Province but also inflicted casualties on the remnants of two North Vietnamese divisions withdrawing from the area. This success was followed by a singular allied spoiling operation in the A Shau Valley, Operation DELAWARE-Lam Son. These two operations prevented the enemy from further attacking I Corps Tactical Zone population centers and forced him to shift his pressure to the III Corps Tactical Zone.
During the period 5-12 May 1968 the Viet Cong launched an offensive with Saigon as the primary objective. Friendly forces defended the city with great determination. Consequently Saigon was never in danger of being overrun. Small Viet Cong units that did manage to get into the outskirts were fragmented and driven out with great loss of enemy life. By the end of June 1968 friendly forces had decisively blunted the enemy's attacks, inflicted very heavy casualties, and hindered his ability to attack urban areas throughout the Republic of Vietnam. The enemy was forced to withdraw to his sanctuaries.
The strength of the U.S. Army in Vietnam reach a peak of nearly 360,000 men during this period.