God Bless you, SGM Taylor, MSG Hunt and SFC Heaps. Welcome Home.
That was quite a read. Thank you for your service and for writing this. We should never go to war without a plan to win and to bring all of our men (and women) home.
Thank you for your service and your sacrifice.
I will honor the memory of William B. Hunt as best I can.
DJ, I am amazed at the depth of memory you have of this incident after 50 years.
Your recounting of this battle, and of the brave men who fought it,is a wonderful tribute to them, and to their valor and sacrifice.
Along with you, we honor MSG Hunt.
I hope in the hereafter, you are once again reunited with your friend.
God bless you and thank you for your service to America.
An appropriate remembrance of brave men for Memorial Day. God rest their souls and give comfort to their families.
While it would have been wonderful and appropriate that MSgt Hunt has been awarded the Medal of Honor, he remains a hero nonetheless. His compatriots who have preserved his memory give a higher tribute than any medal can.
Write the book.
Thank you good sir, for this, and for your service. Our nation owes a debt to so many, that we can never begin to repay, but in the promise to never cease trying.
May God bring MSG Hunt’s friends and family peace, as He brings rest to his immortal soul.
Tatt
DOL
I know that the DPAA, (Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency), works tirelessly to recover remains of servicemen from Vietnam and other war zones.
Perhaps William B. Hunt to will return one day to American soil and to his home.
God Bless and Welcome Home, Brother.
Thank you for writing this and posting....Very well done.
memory eternal
This old ground pounder would gladly go back and search to return this hero home.
Thank you for sharing this memorial with me. I could only read the first couple of paragraphs (up to the part of the empty promise) today because I am having a crying jag day and right now taking a break from my yearly watching of “Black Hawk Down.” I will copy and keep this thread and Hunt will not be forgotten.
I help a woman who lost her husband of 4 or 6 days (she has memory lapses) in WW2. Private James M. Derflinger of VA. They got married on his leave before his deployment. He is MIA also. I know God knows where they are since He knew where they were before they were conceived.
Ps 139
13 For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.
I will ask that they both be found and brought home.
I have a couple of questions about that action and the subsequent events -
1. Was there a dedicated reaction force to support your teams as they were employed? I was in the Marines and we had specific units -company through battalion - that were assigned the mission of rescuing recon or CAP units when the enemy overwhelmed them. They had detailed plans for movement and essentially stood by for immediate movement if they were called. You mentioned that the Division CG didn't come to the rescue. Did they have units that were supposed to do that?
2. Did you or anyone else elevate the request for award for Hunt or any of the others through the army chain to bypass whatever roadblock you ran into? Any correspondence with Congress? Is it still possible? Even though many witnesses have passed on, any written testimony would be strong evidence.
3. I found it crazy that the only artillery support you could bring into action was that 155mm SP battery - and that they did that unbelievable night road march through enemy controlled areas! Why weren't arty units already in direct support of your teams? 155s were GS weapons back then and decidedly not rapid fire weapons. What happened to the DS 105s?
It just seems to me that your units were left hanging out in the breeze with the assumption from Day One that you were expendable.
May I share this with link and attribution?
God bless you and God bless William Hunt.
BKMRK for later
Regards
alfa6 ;>}
Just read your post for the 1st time and words fail me.