3/5 Veterans Remember Fallen

3/5 Veterans Remember Fallen

Story by Cpl. Michael Knight

Confronted by heavy enemy fire, he took up the point position and was the first one shot as he disembarked the helicopter.

“I’m one of the fortunate ones,” said Jack Swan who, 40 years ago was a private first class with Company M, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division.

Fortunate, Swan said, because he was not among the 114 Americans and an estimated 376 North Vietnamese killed in action during Operation Swift, a search-and-destroy mission in the Que Son Valley, Vietnam, Sept. 4, 1967.

Of the 114 killed, 20 were from Company M. Two members of the company received the Medal of Honor, and a third received the Navy Cross.

The surviving veterans of this unit visited Camp Pendleton Sept. 4, some traveling from as far as Florida, to honor their fallen brethren with a ceremony on the battle’s anniversary.

“It was a text-book battle in every sense,” Swan said. “Incoming mortar rounds, enemy gunfire and the sound of F4 Phantom Jet Fighters flying overhead. The jets delivered air strikes as close as 50 meters from our position.”

Approximately 25 surviving veterans commemorated the fallen Marines by recounting personal stories of special moments they shared with their friends.

One such story was told by then-staff sergeant Craig Sullivan, who spoke to those present about Lance Cpl. Thomas Fisher, who Sullivan remembers as quiet and reserved until the day the unit was attacked.

“I witnessed Fisher direct fire, bark orders and place himself in harm’s way, sacrificing his life for the sake of others,” Sullivan said.

Fisher received the Bronze Star for his actions protecting the Marines of his platoon.

3rd Battalion, 5th Marines no longer has a Company M, and because of the numerous stories of heroism such as Fisher’s, many of the veteran attendees expressed the importance of keeping the memory of Company M alive.

“This is a very special day because we are celebrating the lives of those who paid the ultimate price for their country, and it is also a reunion because many of us have not seen each other since the battle,” said Bill Vandegrift, who was a squad leader for 1st Platoon.

Vandegrift, an American Indian from the Odawa tribe, concluded the event with a pipe ceremony.

All the veteran attendees and family were brushed on the collar by a feather waved over smoke, then shared a “peace pipe” full of tobacco.

“The release of the smoke represents the spirits of our fallen comrades’ being released to the heavens,” Vandegrift said. “As long as there is a Marine Corps, every fallen Marine will be immortal.”