Died in Vietnam.
Branch : Army
Rank: Private First Class
Battalion: 5th Bn
Company: A Co
Grade: E3
Major Command: 9th Inf Div
Regiment: 60th Infantry
Specialty: Light Weapons Infantry (ARMY)
Tour Start Date: 24 Apr 1967
Death: 02 Jul 1967
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Lansing State Journal (Lansing, Michigan) Monday 5 June 1967
FORSBERG -- Army Pfc. Jay E. Forsberg, son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles J. Forsberg, of 4500 N. Meridian Road, Williamston, was assigned to the 9th Infantry Division in Vietnam. Pfc. Forsberg is a 1966 graduate of Okemos High School.
Lansing State Journal (Lansing, Michigan) Monday 3 July 1967AREA YOUTH KILLED IN VIETNAM
Pfc. Jay Edward Forsberg, 18, son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Jay Forsberg, Sherwood Road, Williamston, was killed by a sniper's bullet Saturday in Vietnam.
Pfc. Forsberg, a member of Company A, 5th Battalion, 9th Infantry Division, had been in Vietnam about two months. He would have been 19 years old on July 30.
Surviving besides his parents are a sister, Lorna Kay, and a brother, Paul, at home.
Members of the family said other details of the death are lacking and funeral arrangements are incomplete.
Lansing State Journal (Lansing, Michigan) Saturday 8 July 1967
RITES MONDAY FOR SOLDIER KILLED IN WAR
Services will be at 3:30 p.m. Monday at Gorsline-Runciman East Chapel in East Lansing for Pfc. Jay Edward Forsberg, 18, son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Jay Forsberg of Sherwood Road, Williamston. Military graveside services will follow at Glendale Cemetery, Okemos.
Pfc. Forsberg was graduated from Okemos High School in June 1966 and enlisted in the Army in November 1966. He had been in Vietnam about two months.
In addition to his parents, he is survived by a sister, Lorna Kay, and a brother, Paul, both at home, and two grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Lester Barnes of Manton.
Lansing State Journal (Lansing, Michigan) Saturday 8 July 1967
FORSBERG, PVT. 1ST C., J. EDW.
37 E. Sherwood Road, Williamston
Age 18, died July 2, 1967, in Vietnam. He was born July 30, 1948, in Lansing. He was a lifelong resident of Okemos, graduated from Okemos High School in June, 1966, and enlisted in the Army Nov. 1, 1966. He is survived by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Forsberg of Williamston, 1 brother, Paul Roy of Williamston, 1 sister, Lorna Kay of Williamston. Grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Lester Barnes of Manton, Mich. Funeral services will be held Monday at 3:30 p.m. from the Gorsline-Runciman East Chapel with Rev. Charles Goudey of Pilgrim Congregational Church officiating. Graveside services by the U. S. Army. Interment in Glendale Cemetery.
Comment from Sherrie Paty Barber, Class of '66
Jay and I went from K-12 together. Always got along with him. He was a nice friend. I didn't run or socialize with him but we did study together at school (he didn't like to study!) and we talked. He was a typical teenager of the era with no goals, unsure of what to do next and lacking a lot of motivation. Hindsight of course is always so accurate :-) Wonder what he'd be doing now --- probably in the construction/building trade as was others in his family. How quickly the years have slipped past. Jay's been gone 50 years!!!!!
Rodney Ellis (Alumni Assoc. President) (1965)
In 1973, we became neighbors of Jay's parents. I knew Jay somewhat in High School, but heard about his wild adventures from his friend, Bob Storrer (Bob is a former brother-in-law, married to my sister Mary '67). I knew that Jay had been a hand full growing up, but we could tell that life was squeezed out of his parents after Jay was killed in Vietnam.
Charles (Chuck) White (1967)
I grew up on Brentwood Avenue across the street from "Jay-Jay", his brother and parents -- before they moved to Williamston. Jay was a year ahead of me and thus part of the "older crowd" on the block. We all looked up to Jay-Jay and and he was always considerate to us youngsters. It was Jay' younger brother who once gave me a bloody nose in one of our fights (over a nickel, I recall) -- not Jay-Jay.
I have gone to Washington DC many times in the intervening years -- and always make a pilgrimage to the Viet Nam memorial -- and always visit Jay-Jay's name and place on the wall. He was the only close friend I remember who did not make it back from that terrible and senseless war. I always shed tears of grief over my long lost "older" friend.