thedrifter
05-13-09, 07:25 AM
Duluth Vietnam Vets to Bury Remains of Marines
Former Vietnam veterans from Duluth are preparing to say a final goodbye to their fallen comrades...four decades after they were killed. The remains of the marines were found in the jungle a couple of years ago and are now being buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
Back in 1968, a two-day battle claimed dozens of lives along the Vietnam-Laotian border, including those of four marines who belonged to the same unit as Duluthian Brad Bennett.
"It was just a shame," said Bennett.
The helicopter the marines were flying in was shot down and crashed into a dense valley. Bennett says he still remembers one of the victims, Private First Class Kurt La Plant.
"I remember at the time he was only about 18 years of age and he was just a young kid right out of Kansas," said Bennett.
The bodies of that young kid and his fellow marines remained in the jungle for 40 years until 2006 when a POW-MIA recovery team excavated the crash site and identified the bone fragments through DNA testing.
Bennett and Bob Woods, another Vietnam vet from Duluth, traveled back to 'Nam to see the crash site first hand and pay their respects.
"As fellow military people these individuals become part of our family," said Woods. "We want to know where they are."
"We were told if something happened to us we'd never be left behind," said Bennett. "I think it is rewarding to both of us that we know 40 years later they haven't been left behind."
The remains have been flown to Washington D.C. On Thursday a full-honor funeral will be held at Arlington National Cemetery for three of the marines. The fourth has already been buried in California.
Bennett and Woods will be there to welcome them home and say a final goodbye.
"I get to bury some fellow marines that I have a little closer bond to because I know their history, it's a privilege," said Woods.
"I just thought it would be a privilege because I got to make it home from war and these guys didn't," said Bennett.
Bennett says because the marines spent the last 40 years in the jungle together, the families have requested they be buried as a group.
Ellie
Former Vietnam veterans from Duluth are preparing to say a final goodbye to their fallen comrades...four decades after they were killed. The remains of the marines were found in the jungle a couple of years ago and are now being buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
Back in 1968, a two-day battle claimed dozens of lives along the Vietnam-Laotian border, including those of four marines who belonged to the same unit as Duluthian Brad Bennett.
"It was just a shame," said Bennett.
The helicopter the marines were flying in was shot down and crashed into a dense valley. Bennett says he still remembers one of the victims, Private First Class Kurt La Plant.
"I remember at the time he was only about 18 years of age and he was just a young kid right out of Kansas," said Bennett.
The bodies of that young kid and his fellow marines remained in the jungle for 40 years until 2006 when a POW-MIA recovery team excavated the crash site and identified the bone fragments through DNA testing.
Bennett and Bob Woods, another Vietnam vet from Duluth, traveled back to 'Nam to see the crash site first hand and pay their respects.
"As fellow military people these individuals become part of our family," said Woods. "We want to know where they are."
"We were told if something happened to us we'd never be left behind," said Bennett. "I think it is rewarding to both of us that we know 40 years later they haven't been left behind."
The remains have been flown to Washington D.C. On Thursday a full-honor funeral will be held at Arlington National Cemetery for three of the marines. The fourth has already been buried in California.
Bennett and Woods will be there to welcome them home and say a final goodbye.
"I get to bury some fellow marines that I have a little closer bond to because I know their history, it's a privilege," said Woods.
"I just thought it would be a privilege because I got to make it home from war and these guys didn't," said Bennett.
Bennett says because the marines spent the last 40 years in the jungle together, the families have requested they be buried as a group.
Ellie