Roy Exum: The 15-Year-Old Marine

  • Monday, March 30, 2015
  • Roy Exum
Roy Exum
Roy Exum

There are 58,267 names on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall that today sits majestically in the Constitution Gardens of our nation's capital. It has never been lost on me that 33,103 of those who are named were only 18 years old when they died. But what caught my eye during my morning reading is that one of the names carved in the black granite “Dan Bullock“ was only 15 years old when he was killed making desperate run for more ammo after his unit was attacked in the middle of the night. 

He grew up in North Carolina but when his mother died, 13-year-old Dan was forced to move to New York City and join his father. They lived in a seedy tenement in Brooklyn and Dan hated it so badly he took his birth certificate to a forger, had his year of birth altered from 1953 to 1949, and enlisted in the Marines. 

Pfc. Bullock was big and strong and no one learned of his secret until shortly after he was killed in an intense firefight at 2 a.m. on June 7, 1969, six months shy of when he could have legally gotten a driver's license.  "He was a hero," said Franklin McArthur, his best friend in boot camp. "He lied about his age to defend our country at a time when grown men were fleeing to Canada." 

At the time of his death, his sister explained, "He wanted to get an education, to make something of himself, and saw the Marines as a way to get there." 

The Marines have a different view. In an article that appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer 15 years ago, Maj. David Anderson was quoted as saying, "We respect and appreciate their service, but they are part of the Corps' fraudulent enlistees. They are part of the fold, and we recognize them, but (forging to enlist) is a violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice." 

Sgt. Robert G. Davison of Muskegon, Michigan was another fraudulent enlistee, weaseling his way into the Corps at 14 but he had four years of service in the Marines when he was shipped to Vietnam at age 18. Robert was killed in action on Dec. 17, 1966, one day before his 19th birthday. 

Regretfully, I had some friends whose names are on "The Wall" so when I got an email the other day of 'little known' facts, I was fascinated. It has now been almost 40 years since the last Americans were killed in Vietnam. Charles McMahon and Darwin Lee Judge, both Marines, were the last two killed during the war in a rocket attack one day before the Fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975, if you believe the war ended on that day. 

Others claim the last American soldier killed in the Vietnam War was Kelton Rena Turner, an 18-year old Marine. He was killed in action on May 15, 1975, two weeks after the evacuation of Saigon, in what became known as the Mayaguez incident, the only known incident between the U.S. ground forces and the Khmer Rouge. 

To further muddle the issue, it is believed three Marines -- Gary L. Hall, Joseph N. Hargrove and Danny G. Marshall -- who were mistakenly left behind on Koh Tang Island during the Mayaguez incident, were actually the last Americans to die in Vietnam but, to date, their fate is still unknown. Their names are located on Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall as "missing in action." 

The first named casualty was Richard Fitzgibbon from Massachusetts who was killed on June 8, 1956. Gosh, that was 59 years ago, and 9 years after that, his son Richard Fitzgibbon III, was also killed in Vietnam. 

It is hard to fathom that those now under the age of 40 have no idea how horrible the Vietnam war really was, but over 33,000 kids who were 18 years old when they died sure ought to give you a clue. 

The Fitzgibbons are one of three sets of fathers and sons on The Wall. There are 39 sets of parents who have two sons on the wall and, unbelievably -- there are 54 soldiers also on the wall who all attended Thomas Edison High School in Philadelphia. 

Beallsville, Ohio has a population of 475 people and six from that tiny town are named. West Virginia has the highest casualty rate among states with 711 native sons listed. On Independence Day, 1966, nine boys who were teammates on the football and basketball teams throughout high school in Morenci, Arizona, joined the Marine Corps together. Only three came home.   

And then there were the Midvale Buddies; three guys who lived on three consecutive streets in the Utah town and had known each other and played with one another since childbirth. Leroy Tafoya was killed on Nov. 22 on the fourth anniversary of the Kennedy assassination, Jimmy Martinez was killed less than 24 hours later on Thanksgiving Day and the third, Tom Gonzales, was shot on Dec. 7, the anniversary of Pearl Harbor, all three "best friends" dead within a 16-day span. 

According to records, the bloodiest day was January 31, 1968 when 245 were killed and the worst month was May of the same year when 2,415 casualties were incurred. There are eight women on the wall, all nurses, and of those listed, 997 were killed on their first day in Vietnam and 1,448 on their last day in southeast Asia. 

There are 38,196 names from the Army, 14,837 from the Marines, 2,583 from the Air Force and 2,555 from the Navy. Among officers, 2,175 First Lieutenants are named while 17,995 were Privates First Class and 14,715 had the rank of Corporal. There are 1,291 from Tennessee and 1,582 from Georgia. 

Those from Chattanooga who gave their lives in Vietnam, according to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial website, include: 

Pfc. Bruce Ellis Armstrong, U.S. Army, Age 21
Pfc. James Henry Bass. U.S. Army, Age 25
LCpl. Jerry Lee Bell, Marine Corps, Age 20
Pfc. Billy Joe Bennett, Marine Corps, Age 19
Pfc. Wade Lamar Broom, U.S. Army, Age 20
Col. Donald Francis Casey, Air Force, Age 53
1Lt. Raymond Gordon Clark, U.S. Army, Age 21
Pvt. Billy Brown Day, U.S. Army, Age 21
Cpl. George Arthur Essary, Marine Corps, Age 20
SSgt. Calvin Fielder, U.S. Army, Age 37
Sp4 Lonnie Allen Floyd, U.S. Army, Age 19
Sp4 Will Lee Dennis Fowler, U.S. Army, Age 19
Lt Col. Wayne Eugene Fullam, Air Force, Age 41
Cpl. Augusto Jose Garcia, Marine Corps, Age 26
Pfc Jessie James Garth, U.S. Army, Age 20
Sgt. James T. Gray, Air Force, Age 24
Sgt. Jimmy Richard Griffin, U.S. Army, Age 26
Pfc. Robert E. Lee Hamilton, U.S. Army, Age 24
Lt Col. Leslie Earl Harris, Air Force, Age 44
Sp4 Harold C. Hedden, U.S. Army, Age 23
Pfc. Manuel Artlan Hicks, U.S. Army, Age 20
Pfc. Randall Lee Hixson, U.S. Army, Age 20
Capt. Melvin Thomas Huffine, U.S. Army, Age 28
Hospital Corpsman Nathan Lamar Ingle, U.S. Navy, Age 21
Capt. Samuel Larry James, Air Force, Age 29
Spec. Emanuel Jones, U.S. Army, Age 22
Pfc. James Kelly Keith, U.S. Army, Age 18
Sp5 Glenn Howell Kelley, U.S. Army, Age 22
Sp4 Virgil Kirkland, U.S.  Army, Age 24
Sp4 Thomas Elsworth Lane, U.S. Army, Age 23
Pfc. Fred Stanley Lea, Marine Corps, Age 22
Pfc. Rayfon Lofton, U.S. Army, Age 21
Sgt. Robert Looney, U.S. Army, Age 19
SFC George Willis Martin, U.S. Army, Age 34
1Lt. Thomas W. Matthews, U.S. Army, Age 29
Pfc. Robert Lamar McArthur, U.S. Army, Age 20
1Lt. Claiborne Parks McCall, Air Force, Age 26
Pfc. Robert Taylor McJunkin, Marine Corps, Age 19
Major William Thomas McPhail, Air Force, Age 39
PSgt. Homer Landus Medley, U.S. Army, Age 37
Sgt. Ralphnell J. Meroney, U.S. Army, Age 23
Pfc. John Marshall Mizelle, U.S. Army, Age 20
LCpl. George Edward Naylor, Marine Corps, Age 20
A2C Arthur Eugene Norman, Air Force, Age 20
Cpl. William Larry Pemberton, Marine Corps, Age 20
LCpl. William Hudsol Pless, Age 19
AN John Christopher Pody, U.S. Navy, Age 24
Sp5 Robert Edward Poe, U.S. Army, Age 21
SSgt. John R. Prince, U.S. Army, Age 41
Cpl. Franklin Delano Ratliff, Marine Corps, Age 19
Pfc. John Avery Rogers, U.S. Army, Age 19
Cpl. Carlton Ross, U.S. Army, Age 21
Pfc. Willie Shelton, U.S. Army, Age 26
Sp4 Kenneth Edward Shrum, U.S. Army, Age 23
Sgt. Gordon Ray Skyles, U.S. Army, Age 29
Sp4 Charles Edward Smith, U.S. Army, Age 21
CWO Kenneth Leon Stancil, U.S. Army, Age 32
Sgt. Charles Junior Swint, U.S. Army, Age 21
SFC Clifton Tanksley, U.S. Army, Age 36
Col. Lawrence Byron Tatum, Air Force, Age 46
Capt. George Dennis Taylor, U.S. Army, Age 24
Cpl. Tommy Lee Taylor, Marine Corps, Age 20
LCpl. Haywood Wade Tipsy, Marine Corps, Age 20
Major Elijah Goar Tollett, Air Force, Age 35
Pfc. Thomas Cecil Tucker, Marine Corps, Age 24
SSgt. Tomas C. Tucker, U.S. Army, Age 26
Pfc. Johnnie L. Vaught, Marine Corps, Age 19
LCpl. John Henry Walker, Marine Corps, Age 18
Sp4 James Franklin Watson, U.S. Army, Age 36
LCpl. Ronnel Louie Waugh, Marine Corps, Age 23. 

* * * 

It has been said there are no noble wars but many noble warriors.
royexum@aol.com

This picture of Dan Bullock was taken when he was 14 years old. He was killed in Vietnam 6 months before he would have been 16. (Marine Corps photo)
This picture of Dan Bullock was taken when he was 14 years old. He was killed in Vietnam 6 months before he would have been 16. (Marine Corps photo)
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