thedrifter
03-21-05, 07:38 AM
Marine killed in 1967 finally coming home
Milwaukeean to be buried with honors
By MEG JONES
mjones@journalsentinel.com
Posted: March 20, 2005
A Milwaukee Marine killed on a desolate Vietnam hilltop when he picked up an enemy grenade to save the lives of his men almost 38 years ago will finally be buried with military honors.
Sigmund and Agnes Tycz never had a chance to bury their son - their 22-year-old Marine named James Neil Tycz.
He died on the hilltop overrun with elephant grass on a hot and humid day in 1967. When the three survivors of a seven-man Marine reconnaissance team were finally airlifted to safety off Hill 665 near Khe Sanh, they looked down from the helicopter to see the bodies of Sgt. Tycz and his three fallen comrades.
Listed as "Killed in Action-Body Not Recovered," Tycz remained on Hill 665 until American military casualty teams returned to the spot decades later.
His brother, Phillip Dale Tycz, 61, gave the military a sample of his DNA in the hopes one day his brother's remains would be identified. It wasn't needed. All that was found of Tycz were three teeth, which were identified through dental records.
Now Tycz's remains will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery. His four remaining siblings - his parents died within two months of each other in 1988 - will gather at the cemetery on May 10, the anniversary of his death, to finally lay their brother to rest.
"I'm glad it's over," said Peter Carey Tycz of Franklin, who was four years younger than his brother and joined the Marines because of him.
Phillip Dale Tycz was working at Mobil Oil in Milwaukee the day his family found out his brother had died in Vietnam. One of his sisters called to tell him the horrible news.
"It was heartbreaking. It still hurts when I think about it now," Phillip Dale Tycz said Sunday from his home in Plano, Texas. "I felt sorry for Mom and Dad. Dad really took it a lot worse than I expected."
A transfer and a promotion
Sigmund and Agnes Tycz received a letter from their son on May 9, 1967. In the letter, which was printed in The Milwaukee Journal, Tycz told "Mom and Pop" that he had been transferred to a new platoon and promoted to platoon sergeant.
"The change is a little strange, of course, but I know once my men and myself get used to each other, everything will be just great. They're a platoon of good Marines and I plan on keeping them that way, with my newly acquired 'Sarge's growwwl!' (Would you believe - my squeak??!)"
He mentions the fighting around Khe Sanh, sand-bagging his living quarters because of nightly mortar attacks and the sad task of being a stretcher bearer for wounded and dead soldiers and Marines.
"None of us here like this war, especially after seeing a friend or a fellow Marine wounded or worse, but the majority (I hope for the sake of democracy) believe in fighting off Communist aggression in a weakened country . . . Our lieutenant passed me the word that we go in at 7:30 a.m. tomorrow. None of us want to go, but that's our job and I pray I will never fail to do it."
The letter was signed "Your Marine Son, Neil" and below his signature was a sketch of an American flag and the note: "The U.S. is 'in.' It is free!"
Honored for bravery
He was killed one day after his folks received the letter. Tycz, who served in Company A in the 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion of the 3rd Marine Division, was awarded the Navy Cross for his extraordinary bravery. The award is one notch below the Medal of Honor.
Leading a seven-man recon team on a patrol in enemy-controlled mountainous territory, Tycz and his men were detected by a North Vietnamese Army unit of as many as 50 men, according to the Navy Cross citation.
Tycz's team was attacked by small arms fire and mortars, and within minutes, one Marine was killed and three seriously wounded - but not before they killed several enemy soldiers.
Tycz deployed the rest of his men, moved among them to direct their fire and shouted encouragement. When the radio operator was hit, Tycz used the radio to call in artillery fire on enemy positions, and when a grenade landed near one of the wounded Marines, Tycz ran toward it, picked it up and threw it. But the grenade traveled only a short distance before exploding, killing Tycz.
Since the area where Tycz and the three other Marines died was in enemy territory, the military had to leave their bodies behind. From 1993 to 2004, U.S. Marine Casualty Department members visited the isolated site of the firefight eight times, a place that local tribesmen stayed away from because they considered the hilltop haunted.
The first evidence was discovered in 1998 - remnants of American uniforms, 31 teeth, nine of which were identifiable, and bone fragments that couldn't be identified. Last month, Tycz's siblings were notified that three of the teeth were from their brother.
Now as they prepare to travel to Washington, D.C., for his burial, his family remembers the brother who earned a letter on the South Division High School tennis team, who totaled his older brother's 1958 Pontiac Bonneville on the day he got his driver's license, who joined the Marines because he wanted to do something with his life, who gave up a cushy assignment as a general's aide to go to battle, who wanted to serve his country.
Ellie
Welcome Home
Rest In Peace
Milwaukeean to be buried with honors
By MEG JONES
mjones@journalsentinel.com
Posted: March 20, 2005
A Milwaukee Marine killed on a desolate Vietnam hilltop when he picked up an enemy grenade to save the lives of his men almost 38 years ago will finally be buried with military honors.
Sigmund and Agnes Tycz never had a chance to bury their son - their 22-year-old Marine named James Neil Tycz.
He died on the hilltop overrun with elephant grass on a hot and humid day in 1967. When the three survivors of a seven-man Marine reconnaissance team were finally airlifted to safety off Hill 665 near Khe Sanh, they looked down from the helicopter to see the bodies of Sgt. Tycz and his three fallen comrades.
Listed as "Killed in Action-Body Not Recovered," Tycz remained on Hill 665 until American military casualty teams returned to the spot decades later.
His brother, Phillip Dale Tycz, 61, gave the military a sample of his DNA in the hopes one day his brother's remains would be identified. It wasn't needed. All that was found of Tycz were three teeth, which were identified through dental records.
Now Tycz's remains will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery. His four remaining siblings - his parents died within two months of each other in 1988 - will gather at the cemetery on May 10, the anniversary of his death, to finally lay their brother to rest.
"I'm glad it's over," said Peter Carey Tycz of Franklin, who was four years younger than his brother and joined the Marines because of him.
Phillip Dale Tycz was working at Mobil Oil in Milwaukee the day his family found out his brother had died in Vietnam. One of his sisters called to tell him the horrible news.
"It was heartbreaking. It still hurts when I think about it now," Phillip Dale Tycz said Sunday from his home in Plano, Texas. "I felt sorry for Mom and Dad. Dad really took it a lot worse than I expected."
A transfer and a promotion
Sigmund and Agnes Tycz received a letter from their son on May 9, 1967. In the letter, which was printed in The Milwaukee Journal, Tycz told "Mom and Pop" that he had been transferred to a new platoon and promoted to platoon sergeant.
"The change is a little strange, of course, but I know once my men and myself get used to each other, everything will be just great. They're a platoon of good Marines and I plan on keeping them that way, with my newly acquired 'Sarge's growwwl!' (Would you believe - my squeak??!)"
He mentions the fighting around Khe Sanh, sand-bagging his living quarters because of nightly mortar attacks and the sad task of being a stretcher bearer for wounded and dead soldiers and Marines.
"None of us here like this war, especially after seeing a friend or a fellow Marine wounded or worse, but the majority (I hope for the sake of democracy) believe in fighting off Communist aggression in a weakened country . . . Our lieutenant passed me the word that we go in at 7:30 a.m. tomorrow. None of us want to go, but that's our job and I pray I will never fail to do it."
The letter was signed "Your Marine Son, Neil" and below his signature was a sketch of an American flag and the note: "The U.S. is 'in.' It is free!"
Honored for bravery
He was killed one day after his folks received the letter. Tycz, who served in Company A in the 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion of the 3rd Marine Division, was awarded the Navy Cross for his extraordinary bravery. The award is one notch below the Medal of Honor.
Leading a seven-man recon team on a patrol in enemy-controlled mountainous territory, Tycz and his men were detected by a North Vietnamese Army unit of as many as 50 men, according to the Navy Cross citation.
Tycz's team was attacked by small arms fire and mortars, and within minutes, one Marine was killed and three seriously wounded - but not before they killed several enemy soldiers.
Tycz deployed the rest of his men, moved among them to direct their fire and shouted encouragement. When the radio operator was hit, Tycz used the radio to call in artillery fire on enemy positions, and when a grenade landed near one of the wounded Marines, Tycz ran toward it, picked it up and threw it. But the grenade traveled only a short distance before exploding, killing Tycz.
Since the area where Tycz and the three other Marines died was in enemy territory, the military had to leave their bodies behind. From 1993 to 2004, U.S. Marine Casualty Department members visited the isolated site of the firefight eight times, a place that local tribesmen stayed away from because they considered the hilltop haunted.
The first evidence was discovered in 1998 - remnants of American uniforms, 31 teeth, nine of which were identifiable, and bone fragments that couldn't be identified. Last month, Tycz's siblings were notified that three of the teeth were from their brother.
Now as they prepare to travel to Washington, D.C., for his burial, his family remembers the brother who earned a letter on the South Division High School tennis team, who totaled his older brother's 1958 Pontiac Bonneville on the day he got his driver's license, who joined the Marines because he wanted to do something with his life, who gave up a cushy assignment as a general's aide to go to battle, who wanted to serve his country.
Ellie
Welcome Home
Rest In Peace