McDonald, George Edward, Jr., PFC

Fallen
 
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Final Rank
Private First Class
Last Service Branch
Transportation Corps
Last MOS
64B20-Heavy Vehicle Driver
Last MOS Group
Transportation
Primary Unit
1968-1968, 64B20, 359th Transportation Company
Service Years
1967 - 1968
Transportation Corps
Private First Class

 Last Photo   Personal Details 

7059 kb


Home State
Michigan
Michigan
Year of Birth
1949
 
This Military Service Page was created/owned by SFC Anthony Eugene Santa Maria, IV (Tony) to remember McDonald, George Edward, Jr., PFC.

If you knew or served with this Soldier and have additional information or photos to support this Page, please leave a message for the Page Administrator(s) HERE.
 
Casualty Info
Home Town
Harbor Springs
Last Address
316 Fairview Street, Harbor Springs, MI 47940

Casualty Date
Apr 09, 1968
 
Cause
KIA-Killed in Action
Reason
Gun, Small Arms Fire
Location
Binh Dinh (Vietnam)
Conflict
Vietnam War
Location of Interment
Lakeview Cemetery - Harbor Springs, Michigan
Wall/Plot Coordinates
49E 004

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Driver-W
Mechanic
Rifle
 

 
 Enlisted/Officer Basic Training
  1967, 11th Battalion, 3rd Training Brigade (BCT) (Fort Knox, KY), B
 Unit Assignments
359th Transportation Company1st Logistical Command
  1968-1968, 64B20, 359th Transportation Company
  1968-1968, 64B20, 1st Logistical Command
 Combat and Non-Combat Operations
  1968-1968 Vietnam War/Counteroffensive Phase III Campaign (1967-68)
  1968-1968 Vietnam War/Tet Counteroffensive Campaign (1968)
  1968-1968 Vietnam War/Counteroffensive Phase IV Campaign (1968)
 Other News, Events and Photographs
 
  Aug 19, 2013, Other Photos
  Oct 17, 2021, SITREP
 Additional Information
Last Known Activity:

FINAL MISSION OF PFC GEORGE E. MCDONALD JR. - Shortly after noon on April 9, 1968, an estimated enemy squad ambushed a 359th Transportation Company convoy traveling east on Highway 19, approximately 18 miles west of An Khe in Binh Dinh Province, RVN. The enemy employed small arms, B-40 rockets, and grenades, killing one U.S. military personnel, wounding one, and moderately damaging one 5,000-gallon tanker. The lost American was driver PFC George E. McDonald Jr. The following is a personal account of McDonald’s loss by Mike Little: Just before reaching our checkpoint, a Viet Cong sniper put an AK-47 round through the door of your 5000-gallon tanker truck, killing you. Losing control, you rolled the truck down a dirt embankment, ending upside-down. Lucky for everyone else, your load of diesel fuel didn't explode. But you were dead anyway, either from the bullet wound or a broken neck. When I arrived, somebody motioned me to the cab. I gazed at your slumped body. Your eyes were closed, as if in a peaceful sleep, a bullet hole in your side, leaking very little blood. I looked away and wished we had a medic around to help. You didn't have a pulse, but we called for a medivac anyway. I held your hand until the helicopter arrived, then cradled your head as we carried you to it. "Been shot in the side" I told the door gunner. I think he was pissed for risking his life to retrieve a dead guy. That was it, you were gone. I didn't get drunk that night because I couldn't stop thinking about your family, who would soon receive news of all. The Army installed armor plating in all the truck doors a few weeks later, but it was too late to save you, that day on Highway 19 in 1968. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org, togetherweserved.com, and Lessons Learned, Headquarters, 1st Logistical Command, Period Ending April 30, 1968]

   
Comments/Citation:

TO VISIT HIS UNIT'S WEB SITE GO TO: https://359thtransco.com/

   
 Military Associations and Other Affiliations
Vietnam Veterans MemorialThe National Gold Star Family Registry
  1982, Vietnam Veterans Memorial - Assoc. Page
  2010, The National Gold Star Family Registry
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