From Wikipedia.
This is a U.S. holiday observed annually on March 29. It recognizes veterans who served in the U.S. military during the Vietnam War.
March 29 was chosen as the day to commemorate it because March 29, 1973, the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV) was disbanded on this day and the last U.S. combat troops departed the Republic of Vietnam.
Subsequent to the end of Operation Sea Dragon and for the remaining months of the deployment, the Newport News participated in Naval Gunfire Support operations near the DMZ. This was in support of of the Third Marine Division on the coastal area. The ship fired around the clock for periods sometimes lasting for weeks.
During this deployment, the ship expended 59,241 rounds of high-explosive ammunition, while conducting 239 observed and 602 unobserved missions. She came under fire of enemy coastal defense batteries on seventeen separate occasions, hit by shrapnel but never suffered a direct hit.
The Newport News departed Subic Bay on 21 April and arrived at her homeport of Norfolk, Virginia, on 13 May 1968, via the Panama Canal.
Following an extensive overhaul to prepare for future combat , the ship departed Norfolk 21 November 19 68 for her second deployment to Vietnam.
Combat operations during this tour during this tour commenced on December 1, 1968, focused on providing naval gunfire support to the 7th and 9th ARVN (South Vietnamese Army) on Vinh Binh Province and the DMZ.
She returned to Norfolk in early July 1969.
--Cooter
** WORLD WAR I (1917-1918)
The U.S. declared war on Germany April 6, 1917.
A total of 4,734,991 Americans served. There were 116,516 killed and 204,002 wounded.
** WORLD WAR II (1941-1945)
16,112,566 Americans were called into service.
405,339 were killed and 670,846 wounded.
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** KOREAN WAR (1950-1953)
The Republic of Korea (South Korea) versus the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea). The United States and United Nations countries supported South Korea and China and the Soviet Union supported North Korea.
The war ended with an armistice that persists to this day.
5,720,000 Americans fought.
54,246 died and 103,284 were wounded.
** VIETNAM WAR (1955-1975)
There is some discussion as to when the war began for the United States.
It was North Vietnam (Communists) versus South Vietnam supported by the United States.
It really picked up for the U.S. after what was called the Gulf of Tonkin Incident.
In this war, 8,744,000 served and 90,220 died and 153,303 were wounded.
--Cooter
The mission to find Major Paul A. Avolese's B-52 bomber was the first time that the defense agency had allowed a nongovernmental partner to conduct work in Vietnam.
Paul Avoles3 was born June 12, 1932 and was from New York. he served in the Air Force's 4133rd Bomb Wing in Vietnam.
On July 7, 1967, he an his crew were flying from a U.S. base on Guam Island alongside other B-52s to bomb a target in South Vietnam. As two of the bombers maneuvered into place about 65 miles southeast of what was then Saigon, the South Vietnamese capital, they collided, igniting a "fireball."
Eight days after the crash, Col. Mitchell Cobeaga of the Air Force notified Avoles's parents in a letter that the exact cause of the explosion was unknown.
Avolese, who was 35 at the time, was declared dead a few days afterwards. The U.S. government later classified his remains, as well as those of five others missing, as "nonrecoverable."
Following duty on the USS Roan, Fitzgerald attended counterinsurgency training at the Naval Amphibious Base in Coronado, California. Upon completion, he was assigned duties as senior U.S. advisor Coastal Defense Group Sixteen in Vietnam.
Here, he advised the Vietnam Navy on defense measures and the capture of military supplies and contraband destined for the Viet Cong forces.
About 0300 on August 7, 1967, Coastal Defense Group Sixteen 's compound came under heavy attack by two battalions of the Viet Cong. The assault began with an intense mortar bombardment followed immediately by the advance of troops.
Fitzgerald, the senior American commander, immediately ordered a retreat of civilians in the compound. Because of the compound's location and proximity of the Viet Cong, the only escape route was by water.
Lieutenant Fitzgerald and three others delayed their withdrawal as long as they could to provide covering fire and to direct fire from surrounding friendly forces. The Viet Cong attack was swift and well-planned and it soon became apparent that the South Vietnamese forces were decimated and that the American bunker was the sole place of refuge. Fitzgerald ordered the other three to retreat while he provided covering fire to cover their escape.
It was during this action that he was mortally wounded.
The USS Fitzgerald (DDG-62) is named after him.
A Hero in the Truest Sense.
