WILLIAM LYLE BAUER

Birth 09AUG47 Rank PFC Date of Death 01MAY66 P. of birth   Service Marines Place Quang Nam S. Vietnam Town of Record Creswell Unit C CO 1ST BN 9TH MARS Death Code Hostile, Died; Other Explosive Devices Ground Casualty Hometown   service # 2153652 Panel 07EAST - 15 Married Single In Service   Medals Purple Heart  Tour Date   Comment   Cemetery

Lane Youth Killed On Vietnam Patrol
    Pfc. Will L. Bauer, 18, a 1965 graduate of Pleasant Hill High School, was killed Sunday while on patrol with the United States Marines in Vietnam.
    He is the 5th Emerald Empire military man to be killed in action in Vietnam.
    A telegram to his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Bauer, 255 Ivanhoe Ave., Eugene, said young Bauer "sustained multiple fragmentation wounds in the head and chest from an unknown explosive device while on patrol in the Da Nang area of Vietnam.
    Bauer was a member of the First Battalion of the Ninth Marines. He entered service on his 18th birthday last 9 Aug (1965) and had been in Vietnam since 12 Feb (1966(. His parents said they had received a letter from him Saturday reporting that he had been accepted for an appointment at the Naval Academy at Annapolis MD. He had expected to return from Vietnam in July.
    Bauer's body will be brought to Eugene for funeral services, which are pending.
    Besides his parents, he is survived by a brother, Herbert Jr., 17, a student at North Eugene High; and three sisters, Mrs. Dave Shawver of Eugene, Jeanne, 14, and Jody, 10.
    Other Emerald Empire victims of the fighting in Vietnam include Marine Corporal Robert Collins, 21 of Eugene; Robert Shriver Jr., 20, of the U.S. Army, Eugene; Marine Cpl. Michael Webb, 19, Springfield; and Army Major Selwin Wisdom, 43, who grew up in Florence and Junction City. (Eugene Register Guard, Eugene OR, 2 May 1966)

Thank you Oregon Genealogical Society

     WILLIAM E SODERSTROM

Birth 31MAY42 Rank SGT Date of Death 6MAY66 P. of birth   Service Army Place S. Vietnam Town of Record Albany Unit 1st Cav Div Trp B 1st Sqd 9th Cav Death Code Hostile, Died; Guns, Small Arms Fire; Ground Casualty Hometown   service # 19635992 Panel 07EAST - 37 Married Married In Service   Medals Purple Heart  Tour Date 25JAN66 Comment   Cemetery

     BENNIE LEE DEXTER

Birth 18JUL44 Rank TSGT Date of Event 09MAY66 P. of birth   Service Air Force Place Darlac S.Vietnam Town of Record Bend Unit 633 CMBT SPT GP Death Code Hostile, Died Captured; Unknown, Not Reported Ground Casualty Hometown   service # 540481834 Panel 07EAST - 42 Married Single Declared Dead 10MAY76 Medals Purple Heart   MIA BNR Comment  POW Cemetery

Abducted G.I. Reported Slain in Viet-Nam Saigon, 15 May (1966) Sunday Reports received here today said an American serviceman abducted near Bong Son had been shot and killed by his guerrilla captors. A second United States serviceman reported to have been abducted was listed as missing. A United States military spokesman identified the first as Pvt. Theodore R. Vance of Eureka CA and said the military had listed him as missing in action. The spokesman had no comment on reports that Vance had been slain. According to peasants in the Bong Son area, Vance was taken from a vehicle he was riding, led away and shot. Sources investigating the incident said peasant reports were considered reliable. Records list Vance's age as 19. The second serviceman reported abducted was listed as Airman 2nd Class Bennie Lee Dexter of Bend OR. (Seattle Times, Seattle WA, 15 May 1966)

On 10 May 1966, Bennie Dexter was reported missing when he failed to report to his duty assignment. A search of his quarters was proved negative and he was placed in an AWOL status. Reports were received via intelligence agents revealing an airman matching Bennie Dexter's description was seen driving a jeep south on National Route QL14 near the border between Darlac and Quang Duc Province, South Vietnam.
The next day, 11 May 1966, the jeep that had been signed out to A2C Dexter was found abandoned with its hood up on Highway QL14 roughly 15 miles west-southwest of Ban Me Thuot and 17 miles east of the South Vietnamese/Cambodian border. Immediately US personnel initiated both a ground and aerial search of the area in and around where the jeep was found. Local villagers inhabiting the jungle covered countryside were queried about the missing American.
Intelligence gathered during the search stated that an airman matching Bennie Dexter's description was seen being escorted into the jungle by five armed Viet Cong (VC). Based on this information, and subsequent intelligence reports that confirmed Bennie Dexter's capture including the named location where he was being held, A2C Dexter's status was upgraded from AWOL to Prisoner of War.

Photo & Bio Source: http://www.taskforceomegainc.org/d067.html

MIA information from pownetwork.org A2C Bennie Lee Dexter was captured by communist forces while driving a jeep south on National Route 14 near the Darlac-Quang Duc Province border. His jeep was found located the next day. More information available at Pownetwork.org

     THEODORE R. VANCE

Birth 19SEP46 Rank PFC Date of Event 12MAY66 P. of birth   Service US Army Place Binh Dinh S.Vietnam Town of Record Yoncalla Unit 1st CAV, C Co., 1st BN, 7 CAV  Death Code Hostile, Died, Captured; Ground Casualty Hometown Yoncalla   service # 19779453 Panel Panel 19E - Row 102 Married Single Declared Dead 12MAY67 Medals Purple Heart   MIA BR  Comment   Cemetery

Abducted G.I. Reported Slain in Viet-Nam Saigon, 15 May (1966) Sunday Reports received here today said an American serviceman abducted near Bong Son had been shot and killed by his guerrilla captors. A second United States serviceman reported to have been abducted was listed as missing. A United States military spokesman identified the first as Pvt. Theodore R. Vance of Eureka CA and said the military had listed him as missing in action. The spokesman had no comment on reports that Vance had been slain. According to peasants in the Bong Son area, Vance was taken from a vehicle he was riding, led away and shot. Sources investigating the incident said peasant reports were considered reliable. Records list Vance's age as 19. The second serviceman reported abducted was listed as Airman 2nd Class Bennie Lee Dexter of Bend OR. (Seattle Times, Seattle WA, 15 May 1966)

     ARTHUR EUGENE LEWIS

Birth 17JUN37 Rank CPT Date of Death 17MAY66 P. of birth   Service Army (Reserve) Place S. Vietnam Town of Record Portland Unit 25th Inf Div HHC 4th Bn 23rd Inf Death Code Hostile, Died; Other Explosive Devices Ground Casualty Hometown   service # O5417573 Panel 07EAST - 72 Married Married In Service 6 yrs Medals Purple Heart   Tour Date 16APR66 Comment   Cemetery

     FREDRICK CHARLES MANGAT

Birth 23JAN44 Rank PFC Date of Death 17MAY66 P. of birth   Service Army (Draft) Place S. Vietnam Town of Record Veronia Unit 1st Cav Div B Co 2nd Bn 8th Cav Death Code Hostile, Died; Guns, Small Arms Fire; Ground Casualty Hometown   service # 56366650 Panel 07EAST - 72 Married Married In Service 1 yr Medals Purple Heart   Tour Date 15MAR66 Comment   Cemetery

     CHARLES W BAUMAN

Birth 10MAY36 Rank SSG Date of Death 18MAY66 P. of birth   Service Army Place S. Vietnam Town of Record Maupin Unit 25th Inf Div B Co 4th Bn 23rd Inf Death Code Hostile, Died; Guns, Small Arms Fire; Ground Casualty Hometown   service # 19488393 Panel 07EAST - 79 Married Married In Service 12 yrs Medals Purple Heart   Tour Date 26APR66 Comment   Cemetery

     DAVID STEPHEN CROCKER

Birth 07DEC44 Rank SP4 Date of Death 21MAY66 P. of birth   Service Army Place S. Vietnam Town of Record Medford Unit 1st Cav Div HHC 1st Bn 12th Cav Death Code Hostile, Died; Multiple Fragmentation Wounds Ground Casualty Hometown   service # 19781996 Panel 07EAST - 94 Married Single In Service 2 yrs Medals Purple Heart   Tour Date 19JAN66 Comment Thanks to the Virtual Wall   Cemetery

Medford Soldier Killed in Action Army Spec. 4 David Stephen Crocker, 21, son of Mr. and Mrs. L. P. Crocker, 3355 Jacksonville Highway, Medford, was killed in action in Viet Nam Saturday 21 May (1966). Spec Crocker was born 7 Dec 1944, in Medford and attended schools here. He entered the Army in January, 1964, and was sent to Viet Nam in February of this year. At the time of his death he was serving as a paramedic with the U.S. First Cavalry Division which has been fighting near the Cambodian border. His parents were informed of their son's death early Sunday morning. His father, L. P. Crocker, recently retired as assistant to the branch superintendent of the Central Point branch of the U.S. Post Office Department after 39 years of service. Mrs. Crocker has just resigned her position with the Public Library of Medford and Jackson County. (Medford Mail Tribune, Medford OR, 23 May 66)

     DAVID BRUCE BRANDON Jr

Birth 07OCT46 Rank PFC Date of Death 29MAY66 P. of birth   Service Marines Place Thua Thien S. Vietnam Town of Record Lake Oswego Unit G CO 2ND BN 1ST MARS Death Code Hostile, Died; Guns, Small Arms Fire; Ground Casualty Hometown   service # 2158875 Panel 07EAST - 115 Married Single In Service   Medals Purple Heart   Tour Date   Comment   Cemetery Willamette National Cem., Portland OR

     JAMES WALTER BRILES

Birth 30NOV45 Rank PFC Date of Death 29MAY66 P. of birth   Service Marines Place Thua Thien S. Vietnam Town of Record Portland Unit 1st Marine Div G Co 2nd Bn 1st Mars Death Code Hostile, Died; Guns, Small Arms Fire; Ground Casualty Hometown   service # 2153641 Panel 07EAST - 115 Married Single In Service   Medals Purple Heart   Tour Date   Comment   Cemetery

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Oregon Index 3rd St Books home page April 1966 June 1966

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