The Year That Changed the World, it says on the TIME 40th Anniversary Special cover.
Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy were assassinated. Columbia University, the Chicago 7, Soviet tanks in Prague, Hair, Mrs. Robinson, and Che Guevara populate the memories of many. The Beatles visited the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. North Korea grabbed the Pueblo, astronauts orbited the moon.
None of that meant much to me, or means much today. It was all far away – as far away as Tet, Khe Sanh, and the A Shau valley were for most Americans, whether or not they understand that. Veterans rarely share experiences with non-veterans, probably because there is so little shared experience.
April 5 and June 5 are not dates seared in my memory as they are for many Americans. May 21 is. Brian Tierney was killed in action near Quang Tri, South Vietnam. Brian arrived “in country” on December 8, two weeks after I did. We were assigned to Company D, 1st Battalion, 12th Cavalry. Fifty-three in our battalion died during the following year. In that same year decorations for soldiers of Company D included a Medal of Honor and two Distinguished Service Crosses. There would be 14,590 US, 979 allied, and – belying one of many cherished myths of that war – 70,695 soldiers of the Republic of South Vietnam who died in combat in 1968. It was a year in which we won on the ground and were sold out at home.
I was a Platoon Leader. Brian, who was 19, (I was just 21) became my RTO (he carried my radio). We were in the An Lao valley in for Christmas. In Quang Tri for Tet, I dragged Brian where he quite rightly didn’t want to go. When 122 mm rockets were screaming in on Route 9 southwest of Khe Sanh, we got as deep as possible in our foxhole. We were bombed by a “friendly” F-100 in the A Shau. On a starry night the ground shook while we watched an arc light strike down the valley. We pitched a tent of two ponchos together nearly every night. When I became the company executive officer in May, Brian remained in the third platoon.
On May 21, the battalion’s commander, flying overhead, thought he saw an enemy soldier. Inexplicably, he decided it would be a good idea to drop a couple of infantrymen in to investigate, and so stopped by the nearby Company D for volunteers – one of whom was Brian.
The official citation for Brian E. Tierney’s Distinguished Service Cross reads:
For extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations involving conflict with an armed hostile force in the Republic of Vietnam: Specialist Four Tierney distinguished himself by exceptionally valorous actions on 21 May 1968 while serving as a radio telephone operator near Quang Tri City. Specialist Tierney and two other soldiers entered a small village to capture a Viet Cong whose position had been spotted from a helicopter. When the point man saw the enemy crouching in a thicket and ordered him to surrender, the communist started to stand up as if to give himself up, but suddenly threw a grenade that he had been concealing. Seeing the deadly missile land a few feet from himself and his companions, Specialist Tierney shouted a warning and lunged towards the grenade to shield the others from the blast. Specialist Tierney was mortally wounded when the grenade exploded, but by his selfless act he saved his companions from injury. Specialist Four Tierney’s extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty, at the cost of his life, were in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army.
Brian’s father wrote me in June: “Brian arrived home and was buried in our little cemetery here in Roxbury on June 5. He had many friends, and there are a great many people in the area who appreciate what he has done for his country...We are greatly consoled by your words about Brian as a person and as a soldier. We have tried to instill good ideals in our children, and a sense of responsibility and conscientiousness to duty. Above all, especially while over there I wanted him to be a good soldier, and according to your letter and that of Capt. Kent and SP4 Dyer, he was just that. Thank you for the copy of the proposed citation. It seems he has gone beyond my highest expectations by his gallant deed.
Thank you for being a friend of Brian...We wish you all safety and well-being, and pray for the end to this and all conflicts as soon as possible.
May God bless you."
Brian E Tierney is memorialized on Line 2 of Panel 65E on the Vietnam Memorial and in the hearts of his friends and comrades forever.
Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy were assassinated. Columbia University, the Chicago 7, Soviet tanks in Prague, Hair, Mrs. Robinson, and Che Guevara populate the memories of many. The Beatles visited the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. North Korea grabbed the Pueblo, astronauts orbited the moon.
None of that meant much to me, or means much today. It was all far away – as far away as Tet, Khe Sanh, and the A Shau valley were for most Americans, whether or not they understand that. Veterans rarely share experiences with non-veterans, probably because there is so little shared experience.
April 5 and June 5 are not dates seared in my memory as they are for many Americans. May 21 is. Brian Tierney was killed in action near Quang Tri, South Vietnam. Brian arrived “in country” on December 8, two weeks after I did. We were assigned to Company D, 1st Battalion, 12th Cavalry. Fifty-three in our battalion died during the following year. In that same year decorations for soldiers of Company D included a Medal of Honor and two Distinguished Service Crosses. There would be 14,590 US, 979 allied, and – belying one of many cherished myths of that war – 70,695 soldiers of the Republic of South Vietnam who died in combat in 1968. It was a year in which we won on the ground and were sold out at home.
I was a Platoon Leader. Brian, who was 19, (I was just 21) became my RTO (he carried my radio). We were in the An Lao valley in for Christmas. In Quang Tri for Tet, I dragged Brian where he quite rightly didn’t want to go. When 122 mm rockets were screaming in on Route 9 southwest of Khe Sanh, we got as deep as possible in our foxhole. We were bombed by a “friendly” F-100 in the A Shau. On a starry night the ground shook while we watched an arc light strike down the valley. We pitched a tent of two ponchos together nearly every night. When I became the company executive officer in May, Brian remained in the third platoon.
On May 21, the battalion’s commander, flying overhead, thought he saw an enemy soldier. Inexplicably, he decided it would be a good idea to drop a couple of infantrymen in to investigate, and so stopped by the nearby Company D for volunteers – one of whom was Brian.
The official citation for Brian E. Tierney’s Distinguished Service Cross reads:
For extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations involving conflict with an armed hostile force in the Republic of Vietnam: Specialist Four Tierney distinguished himself by exceptionally valorous actions on 21 May 1968 while serving as a radio telephone operator near Quang Tri City. Specialist Tierney and two other soldiers entered a small village to capture a Viet Cong whose position had been spotted from a helicopter. When the point man saw the enemy crouching in a thicket and ordered him to surrender, the communist started to stand up as if to give himself up, but suddenly threw a grenade that he had been concealing. Seeing the deadly missile land a few feet from himself and his companions, Specialist Tierney shouted a warning and lunged towards the grenade to shield the others from the blast. Specialist Tierney was mortally wounded when the grenade exploded, but by his selfless act he saved his companions from injury. Specialist Four Tierney’s extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty, at the cost of his life, were in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army.
Brian’s father wrote me in June: “Brian arrived home and was buried in our little cemetery here in Roxbury on June 5. He had many friends, and there are a great many people in the area who appreciate what he has done for his country...We are greatly consoled by your words about Brian as a person and as a soldier. We have tried to instill good ideals in our children, and a sense of responsibility and conscientiousness to duty. Above all, especially while over there I wanted him to be a good soldier, and according to your letter and that of Capt. Kent and SP4 Dyer, he was just that. Thank you for the copy of the proposed citation. It seems he has gone beyond my highest expectations by his gallant deed.
Thank you for being a friend of Brian...We wish you all safety and well-being, and pray for the end to this and all conflicts as soon as possible.
May God bless you."
Brian E Tierney is memorialized on Line 2 of Panel 65E on the Vietnam Memorial and in the hearts of his friends and comrades forever.
1 comment:
Today, May 29, or just about 41 years after Brian's death, I happened upon the Brian E. Tierney Preserve in Roxbury. I read the plaque citing his valor, and wondered who he was and what he had done in Viet Nam. I now know, of course. Not only do I feel deep gratitude to Brian, and his service to our country, but to his wonderful family which named this beautiful preserve in his honor.
If anyone reads this post, I urge them to visit; Squire Road in Roxbury, which is in south central Litchfield county and not far from Rte. 84.
Knowing what Brian did, and who he was - and who his family is - will make this one of the most memorable experiences of your life. It was of mine.
Verne Gay
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