Specialist Fourth Class Alfonza Watson
This grainy black and white photo has always bothered me. It was the only known photo of SP4 Alfonza Watson, an Alpha Company, 3-12 Infantry soldier who was killed in action on May 1st, 1967. It’s obviously a government photo, probably from his draft board appearance or induction day. Either way, it’s not right that […]
Finding Captain Jones
In the amazing book, Nine Days In May (Warren Wilkins), he begins the section involving the 3-12 Infantry by briefly covering the action of May 1st, 1967. On that morning, Alpha Company was hit at their night defensive position by a large NVA force. The perimeter held, the NVA was repulsed, and Alpha was eventually […]
3-12 Infantry operational summary, April 25th thru April 30th, 1967
US Army’s 3rd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division operational summary for the period of April 25th-30th, 1967. II Corps, Pleiku Province. The 3-12 Inf HQ is moved to LZ Jackson Hole. Alpha & Bravo Companies continue company patrols. Charlie Company secures the perimeter at Jackson Hole. The Braves enter the mountains A looming […]
Archival footage from November 1967 – Battalion firebases on Hills 530 & 1030
On October 1st, 2024, I sent an email to the Moving Image and Sound Branch of the National Archives in College Park Maryland. Good afternoon I am trying to locate any film or audio recordings taken of soldiers/activities from the 3-12 Infantry, 4th Infantry Division in Vietnam. The unit served in the II Corps sector […]
Gravesite Visit #62 – Warrant Officer Thomas E Adams – Montgomery, New York
September 9th, 2024 On the road once for work, I found myself in early September of 2024 in Milford, Pennsylvania, located just miles away from the tri-state border of Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York. The rest of my work group would be flying in, but I had driven from my home in West Virginia […]
Sergeant Larry “Mac” McGee
Back in October of 2020, my 9 year old son Micah and I flew to Texas and began an amazing 10 day road trip throughout the state. We met some really amazing people, including Shannon Houdek. Shannon’s dad Larry “Mac” McGee was the Delta Company, 3-12 Infantry forward supply sergeant in Dak To, Vietnam from […]
Gravesite Visit #55 – Private First Class Garry Frank Lawrence – Woodstock, Alabama
Gravesite Visit – Bibbville Baptist Church Cemetery On July 10th, 2024, my family (me, my wife Garnett and three of our children) left our hotel in Gadsden, Alabama and headed south on Interstate 59, continuing a journey from our home in Morgantown, West Virginia to Lafayette, Louisiana that we had started the day prior. Just […]
January 1968 Map Story
January 1968 Map Story The below arcGIS map story is a work in progress. All text items were compiled and summarized by Mark Coonrad from Daily Journals, After Action Reports, and other publicly available information. Lat/Longs were converted from MGRS using Legal Land Converter (legallandconverter.com) and plotted by Ann McDowell. Locations and text may contain […]
Timeline – 3-12 Infantry Battalion Firebase – 1969
The location cited at the beginning of each paragraph was the location of the 3-12 Infantry battalion firebase/TOC. In most cases, the other elements of the battalion (A,B,C,D,4-Deuce and Recon) were in the field in the vicinity. I have noted general locations for elements in the field when possible. I have included some detail regarding […]
Donald Sperl – May 8, 1968
On May 8, 1968, Corporal Donald Sperl, from Juneau, Alaska, was killed in action in Kontum Province, Republic of South Vietnam. The youngest of four children, he was single and 21 years old when he died. Described as having a magnetic personality, Donald was an accomplished basketball player and active in the local theater in […]