Thanks for your tribute - very meaningful & poignant, It's obvious you guys became Forever Friends in that relatively short time. We never know the impact we have on others until a loss sometimes. Hope you get to visit his dad - probably very special for both of you. (Did you see the video I posted?)
Hello to each of you. I and others did spend a lot of time during the next few days after John’s death at the Reilly's home. Another memory that I did not mention was of his younger brother Chris and how he was so stunned by everything. One can only imagine. The two of them were very close. Since I moved back from Seattle six years ago I've been laying a few flowers on John’s grave on Memorial Day. Even through I get out there early each year when I arrive there are always some flowers and an American flag at his headstone. I sort of suspect they are from Chris.
On the Wall of Faces website you posted, Naomi, there were several rememberances that were written of John. Thomas, there was a really nice, long one written from his brother Chris that you might enjoy reading.
I thought your story about John Reilly was wonderful. It was almost like being there when you were talking with him about going into the service and when you got word of his death and when you comforted his girlfriend after the funeral. I didn't know John, but your words made me realize what a wonderful person he was and how, even after all these years, he is still on your mind and in your heart. John was a hero and you were and are a good friend to him. Thanks for sharing your memories with us.
Thank you so much for the story about John Reilly. As a teacher, I quite often remember John Reilly, as he was witty and humorous in class. (Okay, he was the 'class clown'. ) I think he even made the teachers laugh. He made every class better.
I often wondered what kind of career John took up, so it was a shock, a few years back when I found out that he died in Vietnam. It was like being punched in the gut. I vaguely remember when the recruiters came to WBL and some of the boys went to listen to them.
My dad was a Marine who survived some of the worst battles of WWII against the Japanese. (and now I live in Japan, talk about Karma). However, as for being the U.S. involvement in Vietnam, our family was not for it.
Today, in Japan in university, I teach Vietnamese some students, who are excellent students, diligent, honest, sincere. Everytime I see their faces I think of John Reilly. Such a small world.
Wow, Sandy good for you still making a difference. I only knew John as one of our class clowns, I say that in reverence. I acually saw his name in DC on the wall and cried. My basketball coach Hoffenspurer(sp) was very touched by his death I remember. I hated that war and what it did to the collective us and still do. But here we still are.
John, I had the honor to visit the Memorial Wall when it was in Longwood, Florida, this month. I found your name on the Wall, paid my respects, chatted with you for a few minutes, and my husband, son, and 2 granddaughters all placed our flags along the Wall below your name. You are not forgotten, nearly 50 years later. Thank you John.
On November 29, 1966, a 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, 3rd Marine Division patrol composed of eight enlisted men, one officer, one Navy corpsman, and four members of a Naval Gunfire Spot Team initiated a recon mission in an area two miles east of Duc Pho in Quang Ngai Province, RVN. During the first day of the patrol, over two hundred Viet Cong (VC) were sighted. Artillery fire and naval gunfire missions were alternately called on enemy positions at river crossings, building structures, and water craft. The VC were aware of the team’s presence, and early in the morning of the third day, they tracked the patrol to their night harbor and attacked it with grenades and small arms. Two members of the Naval Gunfire Spot Team, SGT Elwood D. Covey Jr. and LCPL John F. Reilly, suffered fatal fragmentation wounds in the assault; four other Marines were wounded. Supporting arms were requested, and the casualties were medivacked at 3:00 AM. The rest of the team was extracted at 3:50 AM. Air strike by fixed-wing aircraft was placed on the area after the extraction of the patrol. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org and “Command Chronology – Da Nang (1st Recon Bn) November 1966” at ttu.edu]
Naomi Franzen (Anderson)
Tom,
Thanks for your tribute - very meaningful & poignant, It's obvious you guys became Forever Friends in that relatively short time. We never know the impact we have on others until a loss sometimes. Hope you get to visit his dad - probably very special for both of you. (Did you see the video I posted?)
Thomas Callahan
Hello to each of you. I and others did spend a lot of time during the next few days after John’s death at the Reilly's home. Another memory that I did not mention was of his younger brother Chris and how he was so stunned by everything. One can only imagine. The two of them were very close. Since I moved back from Seattle six years ago I've been laying a few flowers on John’s grave on Memorial Day. Even through I get out there early each year when I arrive there are always some flowers and an American flag at his headstone. I sort of suspect they are from Chris.
Linda Treise (Severance)
On the Wall of Faces website you posted, Naomi, there were several rememberances that were written of John. Thomas, there was a really nice, long one written from his brother Chris that you might enjoy reading.
Thomas Callahan
Do any of you ladies have the exact addrtess of Chris's comments? For some reason I can't find them.
Linda Treise (Severance)
The website is www.vvmf.org/wall-of-faces/42873/john-f-reilly
Under Remembrances, scroll down to the 7th posting titled "Faces Behind The Names".
Pat Peterson (Miller)
Tom,
I thought your story about John Reilly was wonderful. It was almost like being there when you were talking with him about going into the service and when you got word of his death and when you comforted his girlfriend after the funeral. I didn't know John, but your words made me realize what a wonderful person he was and how, even after all these years, he is still on your mind and in your heart. John was a hero and you were and are a good friend to him. Thanks for sharing your memories with us.
Sandra Ouimette (Shoji)
Thank you so much for the story about John Reilly. As a teacher, I quite often remember John Reilly, as he was witty and humorous in class. (Okay, he was the 'class clown'. ) I think he even made the teachers laugh. He made every class better.
I often wondered what kind of career John took up, so it was a shock, a few years back when I found out that he died in Vietnam. It was like being punched in the gut. I vaguely remember when the recruiters came to WBL and some of the boys went to listen to them.
My dad was a Marine who survived some of the worst battles of WWII against the Japanese. (and now I live in Japan, talk about Karma). However, as for being the U.S. involvement in Vietnam, our family was not for it.
Today, in Japan in university, I teach Vietnamese some students, who are excellent students, diligent, honest, sincere. Everytime I see their faces I think of John Reilly. Such a small world.
James V. Lysne
Wow, Sandy good for you still making a difference. I only knew John as one of our class clowns, I say that in reverence. I acually saw his name in DC on the wall and cried. My basketball coach Hoffenspurer(sp) was very touched by his death I remember. I hated that war and what it did to the collective us and still do. But here we still are.
Linda Treise (Severance)
John, I had the honor to visit the Memorial Wall when it was in Longwood, Florida, this month. I found your name on the Wall, paid my respects, chatted with you for a few minutes, and my husband, son, and 2 granddaughters all placed our flags along the Wall below your name. You are not forgotten, nearly 50 years later. Thank you John.
Thomas Callahan
FINAL MISSION OF LCPL JOHN F. REILLY