TAPS ...... 2010

Those gone but not forgotten

Our prayers and best wishes go out to those left behind. The Brothers and Sisters of the Mobile Riverine Force Association wish the departed fair winds and following seas and our thoughts will always be with you....

TAPS Tribute to a Fallen One

What moves through you is a silence, a quiet sadness, a longing for one more day, one more word, one more touch, you may not understand why he left this earth so soon, or why he left before you were ready to say good-bye, but little by little, you begin to remember not just that he died, but that he lived. And that his life gave you memories too beautiful to forget.

Remembering Vietnam Veterans
Over 2.6 million served
Over 58,000 gave their lives
They fought for freedom
They fought with honor
In the end they fought for one another

A Soldier Died Today

Michael Quigley

John Lynch

 
Dennis Forbes Billings

Mackroy White

Cecil V. Breland

William R. Wolverton

  
Ralph Franklin Pinegar III

James A. Pelfrey

Edward E. Teletzke

Carroll E. Emery

Darrell D. Williams

Thomas W. Glickman

Tim Doty

"Could you please let our brothers know that Tim Doty of West Virginia passed away.  I got in touch with him for the first time in 42 years last December and went to visit him along with Bob Stern (Co B - 3/60th) this past April and now he is gone.  Please let everyone know how important it is to find our brothers and stay in touch with them.  He told me so many stories that I forgot about." - Bill Sayers

Kevin M. Clifton

Gary San Sauer

Ross F Russo, Jr.

Douglas A. Stearns

Raymond J. Kelley

Richard M. Wimer

Richard M. Wimer, BMC (USN Ret.), passed away on February 20, 2010.

Eugene Bynum

Eugene Bynum, BM1, passed away on April 12, 2010.  While in Vietnam he served with River Assault Squadron 11 - River Assault Division 111 in 1966-67.

  
Wade C. Wells

Commodore Wade C. Wells, Captain (USN) Ret.), passed away on August 18, 2010 from colon cancer.  He also had Alzheimer's.  He will be buried at sea per his request.  The Navy's first Mobile Riverine Force contingent arrived in Vietnam on 7 January 1967, when Whitfield County (LST-1169) disembarked River Assault Squadron 9 (RAS 9) at Vung Tau.  RAS 9, and units that followed, underwent extensive preparations in riverine warfare at the Naval Inshore Operational Training Center, Mare Island, CA, before deployment to Vietnam. On February 28, 1967 Commander Naval Forces, Vietnam activated Task Force 117 under Captain Wade C. Wells. Some early boat crew members and ships personnel served under the Commodore in 1966-67.  After he left the Mobile Riverine Force he took over the training for future boat crews and officers at the Naval Inshore Operations Training Center at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard.  Commodore Wells once said, "In World War II, I saw Americans fighting men of great valor and courage. I saw the same kind of men in Korea. Before coming to Vietnam I wondered if American men today would measure up to those I knew in our previous wars. In a word you have, You are a new breed of U. S. fighting man, the combat sailor, who fights with guts and convention in close combat against brutal life-snuffing weapons. I have seen few in my Naval career who has pursued and preserved the way you have. your service is a monument to the freedom for which we fight."  Commodore Wells and Colonel William Fulton (Lt/Gen. Ret.), were known for their courage and leadership ability while working together in forming the Army and Navy Mobile Riverine Force TF-117 into a superb fighting unit that had no equal then and none today.

Donald L. Baker

Member Donald L. Baker passed away on September 3, 2010.  While in Vietnam he served in B Company with  3rd Battalion, 47th Infantry, 9th Infantry Division from February 1968 to March 1969. You may contact the family C/O: 222 Smalley Blvd., Hamilton, OH 45013 - (513) 896-5509

Richard M. Falda

Albert H. Buster

Nathan O. Loesch

Alan E. Hardtarfer

Billy W. Olsen

Kenneth Owen Sherrick

James D. Newton

Michael Ray Brink

James C. Houston

James C. Houston, BM3, passed away on May 16, 2010.  While in Vietnam he served with River Assault Squadron 9.  We are not sure of the River Assault Division at this time.

Patrick E. Congdon

William D. Parkman

William D. Parkman, BM3, passed away on October 9, 2010.   While in Vietnam he served with River Assault Squadron 9.

Thomas J. Driscoll

Don H. Fellabaum, Jr.

Jack Pritchard

Gerald C. Robinson

Eugene Randall

William C. Foddrill

John A. Carter

Leroy Vegotsky

Bobby G. Rider

GMGC Bobby G. Rider (USN Ret.) passed away on April 13, 2010.  While in Vietnam Gunner Rider served with River Assault Squadron 11 - River Assault Division 111 as a Boat Captain of M-111-3 from January 1968 to January 1969.  You may contact the family C/O: Elizabeth Rider, 303 N. Vancouver Ave., Russellville, AR 72801  

"Gunner was a Plankowner of the MRFA.  Bobby and his wife, Elizabeth, made all of our reunions until he started having health issues.  He was truly good friend and shipmate." - Albert Moore

James P. Caldwell

Anthony J. Hoene

Kent H. Roiecki

John F. Brownell, Jr.

John R. Holland

James C. Swenson

A Soldier Died Today
Written by A. Lawrence Vaincourt
http://www.vaincourt.homestead.com

He was getting old and paunchy
And his hair was falling fast,
And he sat around the Legion,
Telling stories of the past.

Of a war that he once fought in
And the deeds that he had done,
In his exploits with his buddies;
They were heroes, every one.

And 'tho sometimes, to his neighbors
His tales became a joke,
All his buddies listened,
For they knew whereof he spoke.

But we'll hear his tales no longer
For old Bill has passed away,
And the world's a little poorer,
For a soldier died today.

He will not be mourned by many,
Just his children and his wife.
For he lived an ordinary
And quite uneventful life.

He held a job and raised a family,
Quietly going his own way,
And the world won't note his passing,
Though a soldier died today.

When politicians leave this earth,
Their bodies lie in state,
While thousands note their passing
And proclaim that they were great.

Papers tell of their life stories,
From the time that they were young,
But the passing of a soldier
Goes unnoticed, and unsung.

Is the greatest contribution
To the welfare of our land,
A guy who breaks his promises
And cons his fellow man?

Or the ordinary fellow who,
In times of war and strife,
Goes off to serve his Country
And offers up his life?

The politician's stipend
And the style in which he lives,
Are often disproportionate,
To the service that he gives.

While the ordinary Soldier,
Who offered up his all,
Is paid off with a medal
And perhaps a pension, small.

It's so easy to forget them,
For many times it's so, 
That our Bobs and Jims and Johnnys,
Went to battle, but we know,

It is not the politicians
With their compromise and ploys,
Who won for us the freedom
That our country now enjoys.

Should you find yourself in danger,
With your enemies at hand,
Would you really want some cop-out,
With his ever waffling stand?

Or would you want a Soldier--
His home, his country, his kin,
Just a common Soldier,
Who would fight until the end.

He was just a common Soldier,
And his ranks are growing thin,
But his presence should remind us
We may need his like again.

For when countries are in conflict,
We find the Soldier's part
Is to clean up all the troubles
That the politicians start.

If we cannot do him honor
While he's here to hear the praise,
Then at least let's give him homage
At the ending of his days.

Perhaps just a simple headline
In the paper that might say:
"OUR COUNTRY IS IN MOURNING,
A SOLDIER DIED TODAY."