Lloyd Slack

Age: 23
Date of Birth: 3/2/1944
From: Grand Rapids, Michigan
Marital Status: Single

Charlie Company, 3rd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment
4th Infantry Division

Specialist Fourth Class, E-4, Selective Service

Military Occupation Specialty: 11B20 – Infantryman
Enlistment Date – 2/2/1967
Length of Service – Less than one year (315 days)

His tour began on July 14, 1967
Casualty incident was on December 14, 1967 (153 days in Vietnam)
Casualty Code – A1-D-7
Ground Casualty
Hostile – Died outright, small arms fire
Place of casualty – Kontum Province, Dak To District
Approximately 17 kilometers southwest of Ben Het Special Forces camp.

Lloyd Slack served in Charlie Company, 3rd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment. In mid December 1967, Charlie Company was patrolling in the Dak Mot Khon mountains southwest of Ben Het. The company, along with the 3rd Battalion’s Bravo Company had discovered multiple NVA bunker complexes and fighting positions over the previous days. On December 14th, Charlie Company was tasked a search and destroy mission in an area west of of its night defensive position (NDP). Several spider holes and foxholes were discovered, along with enemy communication wire. Snipers began to engage the company, which began to pull back to the NDP, where it would call in artillery and airstrikes on the enemy positions.

As the company was returning to its NDP, additional NVA snipers began peppering the American unit with small arms fire. SP4 Slack, a fire-team leader, immediately positioned his men in tactical positions and directed an assault at the source of the fire. As he did this, he was struck by a single round in the left shoulder. Standing sideways to the sniper, the round pierced his heart, killing him.

Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall
Panel 31E Line 94

SP4 Slack was also authorized to wear the M-14 Rifle Sharpshooter, M-16 Rifle Marksman, .45 Pistol Marksman and M-60 Machine Gun 1st Class Gunner qualification badges.

Biography

Lloyd Slack was born on March 2nd, 1944 in Oxford, Mississippi. Lloyd was raised by his mother Lola Mondy in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Lloyd graduated from Lowell High School (Class of ’63), where he was a varsity football, baseball and track athlete. He was also a member of the varsity choir, a select group of students that represented the high school for special events, such as the Christmas concert, spring production and year’s end Baccalaureate service. After graduating high school, he attended Grand Rapids Junior College on an athletic scholarship before being drafted into the U.S. Army.

Services

Platoon Sergeant Robert L. Grimes was assigned the military escort duty for Lloyd Slack’s remains. When he met the shipping case at the San Francisco airport for a flight east to Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, he was displeased. In his official Escort’s Report of Mission, he noted that the shipping case was towed to the aircraft in San Francisco along with other general cargo that was being loaded onto the plane. His statement was as follows, with emphasis. “I feel that NOTHING nor ANYTHING should be towed along with the remains.”

Services for Lloyd Slack were held at 1:00 PM on December 27th, 1967 at the True Light Baptist Church, with immediate burial with full military honors at the Garfield Park Cemetery in Grand Rapids.

Additional information

Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund Wall of Faces – https://www.vvmf.org/Wall-of-Faces/47872/LLOYD-SLACK/