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Terry Patrick Sloan
Tuesday, 25 September 2007

I was stationed with  as Navy/Marine Corps Hospital Corpsman.  Terry Patrick Sloan, of Des Moines Iowa, was my closest friend and room mate when we were stationed at Camp Hansen, Okinawa. We were Navy Hospital Corpsmen and had gone through Field Medical School in 1964 at Camp Pendelton and shipped out together in August of that year.  He was an X-Ray Technician and I was an Operating Room Technician & Tissue Bank Technician. Our Division (3RD MARINE DIV,) landed in country in June, 1965. 
We were room mates for several months. When our  Medical Batallion landed at Da Nang, Chu Lai, and Phu bai, I was in a Preventative Medicine Unit making sure there were the proper things done to insure good health such as potable water, Immunizations, sanitary waste disposal, and clean field kitchens as well as Operating Room duties. I was air evacked back to the states and was given a medical discharge after  treatment on 11-04-65 and am still 100 percent permanently disabled.
Terry reenlisted and was killed in action in 1966 November.
Terry tried to dispose of  a live grenade out of the "hooch"  it exploded in his hands with him taking the full blast in his abdomen, saving nine other corpsmen and marines sleeping in the same hooch.
Some said he was a hero falling on a live grenade that he was trying to throw out of the hooch where several men slept. Others say it was "suicide" for anyone to attempt to do such a thing.  
There are questions still as to what happened.  While we could never ascertain if the enemy grenade was tossed by a VC working on the base at DaNang into a hooch (a primitive sleeping quarters ) where men slept many consider it as being a hostile act.
By sacrificing your life attempting to throw a spewing VC grenade out  of your hootch where 9 other Corpsmen and Marines slept you died a true hero. The grenade exploded  as you were trying to get rid of it but you stumbled and fell belly down on it . You were just getting up the steps carved in the dirt and you took the full blast in the abdomen.

By the way; you should have gotten the Medal of Honor if the facts are as I heard. The Silver Star, Bronze, and Purple Heart will have to do until I have more facts and when I do I'm going to appeal to the Navy Department through Senator Don Nickles  (R-OK) for an upgrade.

Terry's wife, May, requested that I escort his body to Oceanside, Ca. for funeral and burial.  I did, as a civilian with U.S. Military orders, a most difficult task, but I was very proud to help bury him and hand the United States flag to Terry's wife, May, as the U. S. Marine Honor Guard fired a 21 shot volley.

I escorted your body back to Oceanside where I stood with your wife and five children at The Oceanside Mortuary. I know we had promised each other that we'd escort the other's remains if possible and I felt the typical guilt often described by friends who'd served together. Mostly, I felt really helpless trying to console your wife when the funeral director opened the lid of the casket and we all were able to view your remains through a plastic "bubble" which was attached to the casket. We had seen many traumatic deaths of Marines and Corpsmen but I'd never felt so helpless. Once I handed your wife the folded United States flag at the conclusion of the graveside military service, I felt better having done something that your wife said was a very proud moment for her and your children.

I lost a great and loyal friend who had previously treated me, saving my life. I also noticed that you had been awarded the Silver Star, The Bronze Star, The Navy Lifesaving Medal, and some others but I felt you should have been awarded The Congressional Medal Of Honor since others had received it having acted far less heroically.

May and I viewed the body through a plexiglass lid under the regular casket lid and noticed his hands were gloved with white his head and face showed no evidence of injury. This last speculation came from some Marine who heard such and such. We listened trying to piece together all we could determine to be facts; so far none are. This kind of speculation is very frustrating but it's all we have to date.  There are so many different accounts of such incidents. 

 I am a trained investigator and a medically retired Navy man and I can't get an incident report or any information from the Military Records Center. It could be that I'm just being put off since I did not have Terry's service number and social security number. I have asked Senator Jim Inhofe (R-OK) for assistance. I really don't expect Senator Inhofe to take any action unless he's provided more solid information than what I've given him.  

Terry's wife, May was  going to try to get the details but never saw her again after the burial. Terry was from Des Moines, Iowa but I believe, his wife decided to stay in Fallbrook, California since Terry was buried with full Mitary Honors, at The Oceanside Cemetery.   May surely remarried but I lost track of her after the funeral;  so much grief and a lot of it was mine.

 I've attempted to reach any family members, to no avail. He had a brother a Chief Petty Officer USN  who was at the funeral Mass and burial. All I have concerning Terry are memories and an online picture of the Military Headstone.

To get an upgrade to the C.M.H. does not seem likely since I did not have  the Certification of Medals awarded; I did however recognize the ribbons pinned on Terry's burial uniform and the highest ranking ones were as previously stated. The Award Citation specifies the actions taken by the recipient to cause the award to be given and that's a document I feel I may never see.

 I  have asked U.S. Senator Harkin to check into the circumstances of Terry's death and to assist in getting Terry recommended for The Congressional Medal of Honor if the death certificate and DD214 can be located which would show the awards given. I believe that the CMH has been given recently to a young man killed in Iraq under similar circumstances.

 It was interesting to find out in Sen Harkin's BIO that he was a Navy Jet Pilot during the same time as Terry were serving with The 3rd Marine Division.    "Harkin has been a leader in the Senate in calling on the Department of Defense to improve the process for issuing military medals so that veterans receive the medals that they earned for their service. In 1999, Harkin added an amendment to the Defense Authorization bill which directed the Secretary of Defense to eliminate the backlog in decoration requests. Since then, delays in receiving medals have been greatly reduced and hundreds of Iowa veterans have benefited from Senator Harkin's intervention on this issue. If someone you know who is missing medals, please contact any of Senator Harkin's five Iowa offices ."

 

From the time I met him until I escorted his body home to be buried in  California  was less than two years.

  
I have tried to contact the niece who appeared in the on line forum, to no avail. Maybe her e-mail has changed since then and she didn't get the messages.

If there is anyone who can help me find the facts about my friends death and possibly encourage Sen Harkin's assistance to expedite the location of the Death Certificate and DD-214 (Discharge) it would be most appreciated. I do not know Terry's Service Number or Social Security Number but perhaps you can get these important numbers usually needed for Military personnel searche 
  
My youngest son Joseph, visited The Vietnam Memorial where your name is engraved. The picture taken of him pointing to your name has helped me feel that you have received at least a part of the recognition you deserved. I haven't seen your wife or any of your children in almost 40 years since the day we buried your earthly remains. I am posting this to honor you so that those who never had the privilege to know you might read this .

My son, Joseph, also stutters; as did Terry; who would love him. Joe looks enough like Terry to be his son. I consider Joe to be God's replacement in life for taking Terry home at such a young age.I know you were often embarrassed by your stuttering when you were under stress but it never bothered me. As an X-Ray tech all you usually had to say was to take a deep breath and hold it or don't move which you did quite well. I'm sorry if I ever corrected your speech which would have been very inappropriate. (or my son's) 

 I'm really happy we both were promoted to first class (e-6) after five or six years as second class Navy Corpsmen because rates were so hard to make then. We always wanted to go to the Staff NCO club(e-5's weren't allowed entrance); but we'll have to wait to go to the big one when we both get orders to that BIG DMZ above.

Terry had so much to live for and he was instrumental in saving my life as well as others.

Thanks for being a good friend and for all the good times we managed to have in spite of the chaos and violence we experienced daily. By giving your life to save so many others; I feel that I'll have to be really good to be able to be with you in that Holy Place we often talked about.  I hope to see you again one of these days.

Your best friend; Les (thanks for saving my life)

  Les Easley, HM1, FMF, USN.
SFO (Medically Retired)

Relationship: We served together

P.S.  I  very much hope some of your relatives contact me.

Les Easley  lesrho@sbcglobal.net

Terry's grave

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=sloan&GScid=7954&GRid=10028465&

 

Birth: Aug. 5, 1937
Death: Nov. 9, 1966
Quang Nam, Vietnam
 

 
Inscription: "IOWA, HM1 US NAVY, VIETNAM"
 
Note: Vietnam Veterans Wall: Panel 12E, Line 48
 
Burial:
Eternal Hills Memorial Park
Oceanside
San Diego County
California, USA
Plot: Calvary section


Posted by celeb2/friendsandfamily at 6:00 PM EDT
Updated: Tuesday, 25 September 2007 6:17 PM EDT
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Friday, 21 September 2007
Chuck Stiles

 

Another close friend I served with, believed to have been the first Navy/Marine Hospital Corpsman killed in action at the time the 3rd Marine Dicision first landed at Three landing sites. Chuck  Stiles was killed at Chu Lai on 6-15-65 and I'd like to hear from anyone with knowledge of how they died to finish my book which is a tribute to the Navy/Marine Corps Corpsmen.

Chuck was a laboratory technician (autopsy assistant to pathologists). Our first son, Mike, always went  next door in Navy housing in Oakland, Ca. to see Chuck. Chuck and his wife, Betty had no children at first but had two before he went to Viet Nam in1965.

Chuck was the type of friend you could just sit on the front porch and listen to the horse races at Tanforan or Bay Meadows Race Tracks. He was a super nice guy and looked after Mike outside when MIke was "outside play" especially important when I was gone during the Cuba crisis in '63.
I also learned about The Fleet Marine Corpsman from him since he'd been one before he came to The Oakland Naval Hospital.

Thanks,

 Les Easley  lesrho@sbcglobal.net

HM1/Ret-Medically (100%VA Permanent Disability)    


Posted by celeb2/friendsandfamily at 11:55 PM EDT
Updated: Monday, 24 September 2007 12:36 AM EDT
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Thursday, 20 September 2007
Here are the links we have found in trying to find a way to contact the family of Terry Patrick Sloan

 

So far, we have not been successful....If you can help, thank you!

http://www.military.com/HomePage/UnitPageBulletinBoard/1,13492,702452|793285|M,00.html

http://www.thevirtualwall.org/index.cfm?SectionID=110&Wall_Id_No=47940.0

http://www.vvmf.org/index.cfm?SectionID=110&SearchResult=true&FieldName=Rank_Code&FieldValue=HM1 

http://www.relauthor.net/years/1966/11nov66/110966.html 

http://www.thevirtualwall.org/index.cfm?SectionID=110&anClip=84310 Don Lytle

http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov/overview/microchip/names2s24.html 

http://www.americanfallen.com/navyvietnam001.html 

http://www.talkaboutwars.com/group/soc.history.war.vietnam/messages/4912.html 

http://www.thevirtualwall.org/index.cfm?SectionID=110&anClip=46035 (Leslie Easley talks about Terry P. Sloan)

http://www.thevirtualwall.org/index.cfm?SectionID=110&anClip=15784 (Terry's Niece Catherine Slaon-Uhl) Have tried using this e-mail but no response. Is it still a good one?

http://www.vvmf.org/index.cfm?SectionID=110&anClip=13225 John Bruneel leaves message

http://www.military.com/HomePage/UserCreatedTributePage/0,10980,744344,00.html

Above Tribute page by Leslie Easley

http://www.freedomusa.org/tribute.html (To quickly find the one about Terry P. Sloan--when you open  this page click your Ctrl key and while holding it down depress the "f" key.)

http://www.homeofheroes.com/valor2/SS/5_RVN/citations/navy/a.html Doesn't he need to be added here?

http://www.amervets.com

 

http://www.1stcavmedic.com/Navy_Corpsman_Names.htm 

http://www.1stcavmedic.com/Corpsmen/R-S.htm 

http://www.distantcousin.com/military/vietnam/ia/s.html Iowa Residents who died   Vietnam

http://www.archives.gov/research/vietnam-war/casualty-lists/ia-alpha.html 

http://www.1stmarinedivisionassociation.org/wall/Iowa.htm 

http://www.archives.gov/research/vietnam-war/casualty-lists/ia-by-town.html 

http://grunt.space.swri.edu/thewall/s.html 

http://www.cantho-rvn.org/VN_Mem/Statetwn/ia.htm sorted by town

http://permanent.access.gpo.gov/lps6793/www.nara.gov/nara/electronic/iahrviet.html Permanent access 

http://tanaya.net/vmw/index-S.html In memory of our fallen heroes

http://permanent.access.gpo.gov/lps6793/www.nara.gov/nara/electronic/iaalviet.html  nara

http://tanaya.net/vmw/index-Navy.html NAvy- Fallen Heros

http://www.cantho-rvn.org/VN_Mem/Names/s.htm 

www.themovingwall.org/docs/chron1.rtf The Moving Wall

http://home.att.net/~Pendroy/iahrviet.html National archives  State level casualty list

http://distantcousin.com/Military/Vietnam/IA/S.html Iowa residents who died in Viet Nam war 

http://www.gisearch.com/memorials/vietnam/showrecords.php?hr=Des+Moines&hs=16 GI SEARCH Data base for Vietnam Casualties

www.remember.gov/portals/0/casualties/vietnam/iowa.htm Remembering our servicemen who gave their lives

http://www.vietvet.org/statewall/iowa/ia_page33.htm Viet Vet.org 

http://1stbattalion3rdmarines.com/00-fallen/p-z.htm Fallen Brothers

http://www.genealogybuff.com/misc/vietnam_deaths_s2.htm Genealogybuff.com

http://www.vietnammemorial.com/vietnam-memorial-list-of-heroes-s.html Vietnam Memorial Heros list

http://www.war-stories.com/wall-s.htm Constitution Gardens Washington, DC

http://www.docmelson.com/quig's/wallsrch/WALLS.htm Doc Melson


Posted by celeb2/friendsandfamily at 12:01 AM EDT
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