Sanders Key Stroud II
Age: 19
Date of Birth: 2/2/1947
From: Corpus Christi, Texas
Marital Status: Single
Private First Class, E-3, Selective Service
Military Occupation Specialty: 11B20 – Infantryman
Enlistment Date – 2/2/1967
Length of Service – Less than one year (241 days)
His tour began on August 15, 1967
Casualty incident was on November 4, 1967 (81 days in Vietnam)
Casualty Code – A3-D-7
Ground Casualty
Hostile – Died While Missing, multiple fragmentation wounds
Place of casualty – Kontum Province, Dak To District
Approximately six kilometers south-southwest of Dak To basecamp.
Sanders Key Stroud II served in Bravo Company, 3rd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment. On November 4th, 1967, Bravo Company conducted a ground assault of an NVA bunker complex in the Ngok Kon Kring mountains south of Dak To. Bravo Company, supported Alpha Company, 3-12 Infantry, met heavy resistance. North Vietnamese Army soldiers using heavy automatic weapons, small arms fire, grenades and mortars and protected from well fortified fighting positions resisted the American advance for several hours, eventually forcing Alpha & Bravo back down the hill. During the heavy fighting, PFC Stroud and Specialist Fourth Class William Schmees, operating as a two-man fire team, were separated from their platoon. Their location and condition were unknown until November 5th, when soldiers from Alpha Company were able to push passed the previous days contact sight. Stroud and Schmees, likely killed in action soon after they were last seen by members of Bravo Company on November 4th, were located very near each other amid the shattered landscape of the jungle battlefield.
Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall
Panel 29E Line 22
PFC Sanders Stroud’s decorations.
Top row (Badges) – Combat Infantryman Badge
Middle row – left to right (Individual Awards) – Bronze Star for Heroism, Purple Heart, Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal
Bottom row (Unit Awards) – Presidential Unit Citation, Republic of Vietnam RVN Gallantry Cross Unit Citation
Stroud was also authorized to wear the M-14 Rifle Marksman badge.
Biography
Sanders Key Stroud II was the son of Dr. Sanders Key Stroud and Joyce Kinsey Stroud. He was born on February 2d, 1948 Nueces, Texas. He had an older half-sister Barbara Ann Stroud Rinard, and an older brother, Robert. Dr. Stroud was a well known eye doctor and bookbinder for many years in the Corpus Christi area. Sanders mother Joyce passed away in 1950. Sandy Stroud graduated from R B Ray High School (Class of ’65) in central Corpus Cristi, before enrolling at the University of Texas in Austin in 1966. He withdrew from college and was drafted in early 1967.
Dr. Stroud, who had the heart of a servant, passed obviously passed that along to his son. Memories left on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund Wall of Faces from childhood friends Frank Morrison and Felicia Clemens speak to that.
Services
On November 14th, 1967, Sergeant First Class David G. Rice was assigned as the military escort to accompany the remains of PFC Stroud from Oakland Army Base to his final resting place in Corpus Christi, Texas. On November 15th at 3:00 PM in the afternoon, Stroud was laid to rest at the Seaside Memorial Park within the city proper, where he is now laid to rest alongside his mother Joyce and father Dr. Stroud, who passed away in 1986.
Additional info
Gravesite Vignette – https://abraveservice.org/pfc-sanders-key-stroud-ii/
Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund Wall of Faces – https://www.vvmf.org/Wall-of-Faces/50351/SANDERS-K-STROUD-II/
Citations
Military service information and biographical information retrieved from coffeltdatabase.org, ancestry.com and the National Archives.
Casualty map and military awards image created by A Brave Service, all rights reserved.
Remembrances retrieved from Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund Wall of Faces.
I am leaving this because I fear there are few left who knew Sandy. He was my Uncle and I have few memories of him as I seldom had the chance to visit him in Texas as we lived in MD and money was tight. I do recall him taking me every chance to get snow cones, our favorite was the suicide which had every flavor on it, and his love for cars and auto magazines. He was just like any HS kid, not a care in the world and had the world by the tail. He elected for military service following HS because he was somewhat on what to do and thought this would buy him time to figure that out. While at Ft Polk he was denied opportunity to apply for OCS by his Drill Sgt for unknown reasons, as determined through review of letters, and after shipping to Vietnam decided to come back after his tour and with his fathers help would seek admission to UT Galveston, med school and a career path to follow his father as an ophthalmologist. This seemed, based on correspondence to give them both hope and a purpose. Sandy had a girlfriend who I never met but apparently they were close and had spoken of marriage when he got back. He carried a bible which was returned with many dog ears and red dirt stains on it, so I have to believe it was a source of comfort and something he read routinely. In that vein his girlfriend gave his father the book Jonathon Livingston Seagull following Sandys death and is a book I frequently read and reflect on. Unfortunately, Sandy died at a time when casualties were high, he was new to the unit was not there long and anyone that knew him died during their tour, were wounded and evaced or have since passed. No pictures of him, and no recollections from them on his short time. I’m hoping this serves as a way to keep his memory alive. I was one of the fortunate ones to have known him. His death like all from Vietnam left a huge hole in our lives, many unanswered questions and unfortunately a fading memory. I am one of only a couple of Sandys family left and would love to talk with anyone with any recollections or photos to share.