Riley Charles O'Neil, Jr
Corporal
HHC, 1ST BN, 12TH CAVALRY, 1ST CAV DIV, USARV Army of the United States Kansas City, Kansas June 04, 1947 to December 15, 1967 RILEY C O'NEIL Jr is on the Wall at Panel 32E, Line 3 |
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Riley Charles O'Neil, JrCorporalHQ CO, 1ST BN, 12TH CAVALRY, 1 CAV DIV Army of the United States 04 June 1947 - 15 December 1967 Kansas City, Kansas Panel 32E Line 003 |
We all called him "Alfalfa" when we were kids, boy he hated that! But true to his nature he always laughed it off. We grew up playing Cowboys & Indians, but the years flew by and then the guns were real, as was the fighting. I enlisted, but Riley was better educated than I was and out of high school gave college a whirl. He didn't take to it too well and quit. That's when the Selective Service pounced on him and off he went. Being the good-hearted person he was he went for Medic. After his training he was sent out. I'm not sure just how long he was in-country, but during some intense fighting at a hot LZ in Binh Dinh he flew in to evac the wounded. That's when he took small arms fire and was hit. That was 12/15/67. After all these years my heart still hurts. I go to his gravesite which is a few miles from my home and we talk. Sometimes I cry, sometimes I hold it in. His family lives in California so I take care of him. It makes it a little easier to understand knowing that no one "took" his life, he "gave" it so that others might live. I better go now as my eyes are tearing up and he wouldn't want that.
His life long friend and buddy, |
A Note from The Virtual WallOn 15 December 1967 the 1st Battalion, 12th Cavalry, fought a battle at An My (2) in Binh Dinh Province, a bitter fight that cost the lives of 21 American soldiers:
Medics on the Wall memorial which honors the Army Medics and Navy Corpsmen who died in Vietnam. |
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