Posted by Dick Reidy on November 27, 2007:

I may have been the last classmate to see Gerry before he was killed. I was in processing at the MACV II compound in Cholon; it was around the 29th of March 1965. I was on a break outside of the building where the new advisors were being briefed, and Jerry came walking by. We saw each other and he stopped and we talked for a few minutes. I was brand new in country and Jerry had been there for a while and had spent his time advising an ARVN battalion. He was the usual Jerry, laconic and to the point. We talked about what it was like in the field that he indicated that “it has its moments”. He struck me is poised and confident and not the least bit unhappy with his situation. As he left he said he hoped to see me around if I stayed in Saigon area. There weren’t that many U.S troops in Vietnam at that time, so most of the advisers were known, and there was a pretty well-established grapevine. I think I’ve found out about what happened to Jerry within a day of his being killed on 1 April. I later met with the officer who was the survey officer, and he told me that Jerry had been substituting for another adviser who was not available for the operation, which involved a helicopter assault on an area on the other side of the Mekong River. The impression I got is that the VC knew they were coming as it was a very hot LZ and one of the advisory teams NCO’s got hit. Jerry picked him up and was carrying him to a helicopter for Medevac, when they were both hit by small arms fire and killed. Gerry was awarded a Silver Star for ordering air strikes against the entrenched VC battalion and preventing disorder among the ARVN soldiers as they withdrew from contact. Gerry was low key, but always performed at the max. He was a good friend and a great soldier. He is missed.

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