Posted on 09/26/2009 3:31:48 AM PDT by pansgold
Marvin Kostrowski died in Vietnam and his death is listed as Hostile Ground casualty yet he was killed by Friendly Fire.
Marv's death is listed as "Death by Misadventure" which means he was NOT where he was supposed to be. Marv is buried in the Gate of Heaven Cemetery between Rothschild and Mosinee, Wisconsin on old Highway 51. He was buried in a closed casket because he was badly burned by napalm, dropped by a Navy pilot. Marv's dad told me the US Navy admitted a Navy pilot had Napalmed Marv and others with him.
It was a hot day and the men sought cover in the shade under a tree, right in the middle of a clearing. A Navy pilot that didn't find his assigned target was low on fuel and needed to get back to the carrier. He needed to drop all his ordinance before he'd be allowed to land. He picked the tree for a target and dropped everything he had on it. The pilot landed and was told he had just burned 12 GI's to death with napalm. The pilot went insane and was discharged. After many trips to a mental hospital, the pilot stuck a .45 in his mouth and killed himself rather than continuing to live with what he had done.
An investigation laid no blame on the pilot. He never saw the men and they were not where they were supposed to be. Death by misadventure is what they called it.
Misadventure is what the military used as a code word rather than list the death as Friendly Fire. What has to happen to get the record corrected or should I let sleeping dogs lay?
Don’t know wht to tell you but I’m very sorry.
MARVIN DAVID KOSTROSKI
I misspelled his name. I’m half asleep but woke up and for some reason began to think about Marv.
http://www.vvmf.org//index.cfm?SectionID=110&Wall_Id_No=28710
War is hell, people die. I am sorry for Mr. Kostoski’s loss, would he feel any less of a loss if the VC killed his son?
What about a desease?
I had three close escapes with friendly fire.
One we had called in artillary on an enemy position. I do not know if the gunners or the spotter was off but the first three rounds bracketed our position. Fortunately no one was killed or wounded.
Another was when we were meeting up another Platoon while engaged in a firefight with the enemy. Neither platoon was where they thought the other was. Before contact was made it appeared to each that the enemy was trying to surround the other. A fire fight began between the two platoons. It did not last long, and again, luck was with us.
Another was when we were pinned down and air support was called in. I swear the bombs were just feet in front of us (actually more like 50 -60 yards but things appear closer when you are upfront and close to bombs).
I came down with some jungle (Dengue) fever and was in the hospital for a few weeks, it could have killed.
Making a river crossing I slipped and the weight of all my equipment kept me underwater. I could not get a good enough footing to stand, fortunately someone saw what happened and help pull me up and helped me get my footing.
In training during a helicopter jump my rifle bag went down one side of the skids and I went down the other, I ended up tumbling as my parachute opened. Fortunately I was not wrapped up in it, my risers were twisted badly but my parachute opened and I did not die.
Each of those near misses would have been listed as either friendly fire or death by misadventure, but I would have been just as dead.
(We won’t even talk about when someone was trying to kill me)
So what is the point of this story? People die in war. Sometimes you die as a hero, sometimes you just die. If the story is correct, no one is at fault, the pilot had no way of knowing that in the vast jungle there happend to be American troops under the trees he was using for target practice.
Again, I am sorry for Mr. Kostroski’s loss. I am sorry his son died. Mistakes and accidents happen everywhere. I once read (but can not confirm) that a young man was actually safer in Viet Nam then drivintg on the freeways in the states, that more died in auto accidents during the Viet Nam war years. Maybe that is a urban legend, but there is no doubt that we have many more automobile related deaths than combat related deaths.
Mr. Kostroski, honor your son’s memory. He died while defending the freedom of people he did not know or really understand. I can think of worse reasons to die.
I agree and thanks. You answered my question. Let sleeping dogs lay. We were all told if you go be-boppin’ off and get killed with friendly fire we’d be listed with Death by Misadventure because there are and were no “Friendly Fire” deaths as far as Uncle Sam was concerned.
I’m all for waking up the dogs if it brings proper recognition to someone’s honor, and it sounds like you’re taking “misadventure” as a claim that Marvin had done something wrong. It’s not that the government is refusing to admit “friendly fire,” though AFAIK, but rather is trying to explain how the friendly fire occurred.
That I disagree with. The troops were not at the coordinates they were supposed to be at according to what Marvin’s dad told me. The area should not have had friendly there. Every plane with live ordinance left over from a mission MUST drop it before landing because a crash landing is bad enough without bombs and rockets killing off the ship’s crew.
CIB-173RDABN I can’t thank you enough for your service. I’m sure you don’t think of yourself as a hero but we are all honored by your life. It gives me more backbone to fight our “domestic” enemies.
Why wouldn’t the pilot have disposed of his ordance at sea? There must be some sea near an aircraft carrier.
Stonewall Jackson died from “friendly” fire. So did Pat Tillman. Apparently, Glenn Miller’s airplane was hit in an ordance disposal area over the English Channel by returning Lancasters.
It happens.
Stuff happens, they were in the wrong place at they wrong time. My son was broad sided in an intersection by an illegal, he was right(he had the green light) but he was at the wrong place at the wrong time. What a waste but the Lord calls people home.
Amen.
Even in "peacetime", military work is hazardous, and we lose people. Same with many civilian occupations.
“...military work is hazardous...”
I figured that out 2 weeks after Tet when I enlisted back in 68.
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