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Casualty Info
Home Town Portland, OR
Last Address Portland, OR
Casualty Date Feb 23, 1971
Cause KIA-Killed in Action
Reason Gun, Small Arms Fire
Location Binh Dinh (Vietnam)
Conflict Vietnam War
Location of Interment Willamette National Cemetery (VA) - Portland, Oregon
LARRY DAHL WAS POSTHUMOUSLY AWARDED THE MEDAL OF HONOR. ( VIEWABLE IN HIS PHOTO ALBUM ) THAT DAY: WRITTEN BY RONALD MALLORY, THE HAND WRITTEN COPY CAN BE VIEWED IN LARRY'S PHOTO FILE. ON FEB 23, 1971 WE WERE IN OUR CONVOY ON OUR WAY TO MAKE OUR DELIVERY OF FUEL FROM QUI NHON TO PLIEKU. WE GOT A CALL TO COME HELP OUT ANOTHER GUN TRUCK WHO WERE UNDER FIRE ON THE TOP OF THE AN KHE PASS. WE WENT AND STARTED UNLOADING MASSIVE GUN FIRE. AFTER WE THOUGHT IT WAS OVER I WERE THE DRIVER ( RONALD MALLORY ) WERE TOLD TO TURN AROUND AND GO BACK TO OUR CONVOY. IT WERE A BIG HILL AND I PULLED UP AND STARTED TO TURN AROUND BUT HEARD A LOUD EXPLOSION ON BACK IN THE GUN BOX. CHARLES HUSER AND HECTOR DIAZ SAID GO, GO WE HAVE BEEN HIT, BUT I KNEW IT BECAUSE SOME OF LARRY DAHL BLOOD HAD COME OVER ON ME AND I KNEW THEN WHAT I HAD TO DO. IT WERE A BURNING TANKER IN THE ROAD AND I WENT THROUGH THE FIRE TO THIS OUTFIT ON THE ROAD. THAT WERE WHEN I GOT UP AND LOOKED IN THE BOX AND SAW MY CREW WERE BADLY HURT, BUT I KNEW DAHL WERE DEAD.
THE CREW
THE LOSS OF HIS FRIEND CAUSED RON MALLORY TO QUIT DRIVING, AND HE WORKED IN THE MOTOR POOL UNTIL HE ROTATED BACK TO THE UNITED STATES. HECTOR DIAZ WENT THROUGH EXTENSIVE MEDICAL TREATMENT, AND DIED IN 2003 OF HEPATITIS, WHICH HE PICKED UP FROM A BLOOD TRANSFUSION. CHARLES HUSER RETURNED FROM THE HOSPITAL TO JOIN THE CREW OF THE GUN TRUCK MISFITS.
THIS IS A LETTER WRITTEN TO MICHAEL DAHL ( THE SON OF LARRY ) BY ANTHONY DIAZ ( THE SON OF HECTOR DIAZ ). IT IS AS HE WROTE IT.
SERGEANT DAHL: I KNOW THAT YOU DO NOT KNOW ME; MY NAME IS ANTHONY M DIAZ. I AM CURRENTLY SERVING MY FOURTH TOUR IN THE MIDDLE EAST. YOUR FATHER SAVED MY FATHERS LIFE IN VIETNAM. HAD IT NOT BEEN FOR THIS UNSELFISH ACT MY FATHER WOULD HAVE DIED THAT DAY. MY FATHER AND I TALKED ABOUT WHAT OCCURED THAT DAY. IT'S NOT TOO DETAILED BUT SOME FACTS YOU MIGHT KNOW. DURING THAT THAT CONVOY THEY WERE AMBUSHED. THE AMBUSH WENT ON FOR A BIT AND DURING THE AMBUSH MY FATHER WAS ON THE MINI GUN IN THE REAR... AS HE WAS SHOOTING THE MINI JAMMED, LEAVING MY FATHER WORKING ON THE MINI TRYING TO UNJAM IT...MY FATHER WAS STANDING ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE MINI IF YOU WERE FACING THE FRONT OF THE TRUCK. MY FATHER HAD HIS BACK TO YOUR DAD AS HE WAS MANNING THE 50 ON ON TH LEFT SIDE OF THE TRUCK (FACING THE FRONT OF THE TRUCK)
THERE WAS A BRIEF END TO THE GUN FIRE AND THEY THOUGHT IT WAS OVER...AND THE TRUCK BEGAN TO MOVE AND THEY WERE AT THE BOTTOM OF A LITTLE HILL....YOUR FATHER WAS STILL SCANNING THE AREA AND AT THE SAME TIME CHECKING ON MY DAD... JUST AS THE TRUCK BEGAN TO MOVE, YOUR FATHER SAW A FIGURE (VC) POP UP. HE THREW THE HAND GRENADE AT THE EXACT TIME YOUR DAD LIT HIM UP WITH THE 50...MY FATHER SAID HE GOT HIM...HOW HE KNEW THAT I'M NOT SURE BUT HE SEEMED PRETTY SURE OF IT.
THE GRENADE MADE IT AND BOUNCED INTO THE BACK RIGHT CORNER OPPOSITE OF THE SIDE WHERE MY FATHER WAS WORKING ON THE MINI GUN.
YOUR FATHER ANNOUCED IT BEING THERE AT THE SAME TIME HE WAS JUMPING ON IT...HIS BODY SHIELDED MOST OF IT, WHICH SAVED EVERYONE IN THE BACK BUT SOME IT STILL WENT THROUGH HIM AND HIT MY FATHER IN HIS LOWER LEGS...
MY FATHER WAS THROWN OUT OF THE TRUCK, LYING NEXT TO YOUR FATHER... HE DISCRIBED TO ME HOW HE WAS CRYING AND TELLING THE DOOR GUNNER THAT YOUR FATHER (THE MAN LYING NEXT TO HIM) HAD SAVED HIS LIFE...
WHEN MY FATHER DIED HE STILL HAD PIECES OF THAT GRENADE IN HIM...AND I THINK IT WAS BECAUSE HE WANTED A CONSTANT REMINDER OF THE LOVE YOUR DAD SHOWED HIM THE DAY HE SAVE HIS LIFE. I REMEMBER MY FATHER TELLING THE STORY LIKE IT WAS YESTERDAY...AND WILL NEVER FORGET IT.
EVERY TIME MY FATHER TOLD THAT STORY HE WAS IN TEARS. I WAS BORN ONLY THREE DAYS AFTER YOUR FATHER SAVED MY FATHERS' LIFE. IF IT WASNT FOR THAT SACRIFICE, I WOULD HAVE NEVER MET MY FATHER.
I HAVE TO TELL YOU THAT WHENEVER I WAS IN A SITUATION IN THE MIDDLE EAST I ALWAYS REMEMBERED YOUR FATHER AFTER IT WAS ALL OVER, AND I KEPT THINKING ABOUT HOW I WANTED TO MAKE SURE IF THAT SITUATION EVER CAME TO ME THAT I COULD BE THERE FOR MY BUDDIES NO MATTER WHAT THE COST.
I KNOW AND YOU WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO EXPLAIN THOSE FEELINGS TO ANYONE WHO HAS NOT BEEN THERE AND EVEN IF YOU SPEND THE REST OF YOUR LIFE TRYING, THEY WILL NEVER UNDERSTAND THE CLOSENESS THAT YOU FEEL TO THE GUYS AROUND YOU...KNOWING THAT NO MATTER WHAT DIFFERENCES YOU MAY HAVE THAT IF THE SHIT HITS THE FAN THEY WILL BE THERE FOR YOU NO MATTER WHAT. SINCERELY, ANTHONY M. DIAZ
ON 23 FEBRUARY 1971, AT THE AGE OF 21 LARRY GILBERT DAHL PERISHED IN THE SERVICE OF OUR COUNTRY IN BINH DINH SOUTH VIETNAM. ON 8 AUGUST 1974 HIS FAMILY WAS PRESENTED THE CONGRESSIONAL MEDAL OF HONOR FOR HIS ACTION'S BY THE VICE PRSIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES GERALD R. FORD. (THE CITATION CAN BE SEEN IN HIS PICTURE FILE)
HE IS LISTED ON THE VIETNAM VETERANS MEMORIAL ON PANEL 5W, ROW 132
IN HIS HONOR ON 2 OCT 1998 THE NAVY LAUNCHED THE USNS DAHL (T-AKR 312) HIS FAMILY CHRISTENING THE SHIP . ( MORE INFORMATION AVAILABLE IN HIS PICTURE FILE)
Comments/Citation:
ON A PERSONAL NOTE:
THE MEN WHOSE LIVE'S LARRY DAHL SAVED THROUGH HIS ACTION'S, HAVE AND ALWAYS WILL HAVE HIM IN THEIR MEMORY'S! HE MADE THE ULTIMATE SACRIFICE SO THEY COULD LIVE! ( RONALD MALORY, CHARLES HUSER, & HECTOR DIAZ (PASSED 2003)).
THE MEN OF THE 359 TRANSPORTATION COMPANY WILL ALWAYS HONOR HIS MEMORY! LEST WE FORGET! JOHN PORTER MSG RETIRED PAGE ADMINISTRATOR & A 359er
IF YOU ARE LOOKING AT THIS PROFILE, PLEASE CLICK ON (MORE...) ON THE PICTURE FILE. THERE'S A LOT MORE ABOUT LARRY THERE.