The following letter was sent from Ben Barrett to Skip Fahel, hoping to reconnect with a young Triple Deucer who was serverely wounded in 1970. Please contact Ben at with the information below if you can help.
Skip,
First, I want to thank everyone for the continuing great newsletters being sent out to the membership. But in the most recent edition, I didn’t see any recent searches for fellow Vets.
I have been asking, on line, for anyone who served with me in B Co, 2nd Platoon, from Feb 70-August 70, to contact me. I was the E6 (transferred in from the 1st Div when they went home) Acting Platoon Leader for that period. But to my story.
I was in Cu Chi on 21 days light duty, after being blown off the CO’s APC after we hit a land mine. This took place about a month before the Cambodian Operation. During that time, (the story I got) one of the missions my platoon had assigned to them, was a sweep of the perimeter of the Cu Chi base camp. During that sweep, some of the guys dismounted the tracks. One of these guys stepped on a land mine and was immediately rushed into the Base Hospital ER.
I, along with Doc Richie Byers, waited in the hospital to see this guy, after his long ordeal in the ER. When we finally got to see him, he was pretty dopey from all the anesthetic and pain meds. In fact, at that point he didn’t even realize he had lost both legs. Naturally, he was ultimately medevac’d to the States.
When I DEROSED out back home to the States, I was told by the Company Clerk that the latest they had on him was he has recovering well and would soon be fitted with his prosthetic legs. I could go on in greater detail, but my long time wish, has been to find this guy and reunite with him, even if it is only by phone or email. I have no recollection of his name at all. All I remember was he was new to the Platoon and he was VERY young.
Anyway, with my recent Agent Orange related medical issues, I could use some help in finding this guy before I receive orders for “The Bix PX In The Sky”. I’m not dying, but I’ve had my issues. I tried to locate Doc Byers to check his memory on this story, only to learn he has since passed away. Learning that, I am asking for additional help.
Thanks for listening to my story, as I remember it, what with the memory of a 74 year old. Let me know what you think. Thanks.