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In the fading daylight and as the NVA prepared for a final assault, Marine aviators Captain Chris Bradley and 1st Lt. David Nazarian from squadron VMO-2 came to the support of the beleaguered Marines on Hill 70. Their courage and flying skills broke the back of the NVA attack and saved countless lives. They were true heroes of the Battle of Getlin’s Corner.
In the fading daylight and as the NVA prepared for a final assault, Marine aviators Captain Chris Bradley and 1st Lt. David Nazarian from squadron VMO-2 came to the support of the beleaguered Marines on Hill 70. Their courage and flying skills broke the back of the NVA attack and saved countless lives. They were true heroes of the Battle of Getlin’s Corner.
In its younger days, Lance Corporal Dave Gomez and Corporal Roger Turnquist of the 2nd. Platoon pose with their new “The Flaming I” Guidon outside of the company command post shortly before the Battle of Getlin’s Corner.
2008 presentation of “The Flaming I” Guidon to Bobo Hall, Officers Candidate School in Quantico, VA. Every aspiring Marine officer eats his or her meals in the chow hall that is named after Medal of Honor recipient, 2nd. Lt. John Bobo. Civilians pictured left to right: Jack Riley, Ken “Doc” Braun (Navy Cross), Bill Bobo, Lon Getlin, Pat Bobo
NVA Mounted machine gun. This very heavy machine gun was used against the Marines was abandoned by the NVA troops when they were driven from the battle field by the Marine helicopter attacks lead by “Deadlock Playboy” Captain Bradley.
Jack Riley and his son Will before the panel that has the names of the fifteen Marines who fought and died at The Battle of Getlin’s Corner.
Marine 2nd. Lt. Michael P. Getlin (Navy Cross) and Cadet Captain Lon Getlin at Lon’s 1963 high school graduation from Northwestern Military and Naval Academy, Lake Geneva, WI.
In the best of times: Robbie Borus and Mike Getlin at their wedding. Congratulating Mike is the Reverend Gordon Price who would presided over Mike’s wedding and his funeral. Their daughter, Jennifer Haggard and her husband Reed, live in Atlanta, GA. Jennifer was just over 2-years-old when she lost her father at Getlin’s Corner. They have a son, Dylan, who is a student at the University of Georgia.
Brothers Lon and Mike Getlin setting out on a cross-country flight in 1961. Mike had his private pilot’s license when he was 16-years-old and began teaching Lon to fly when Lon was 13-years-old. When Lon became a Marine fighter pilot many years later, he often felt Mike’s presence in the cockpit of his F-4 Phantom.
Marine 2nd. Lt. Michael P. Getlin (Navy Cross) and Cadet Captain Lon Getlin at Lon’s 1963 high school graduation from Northwestern Military and Naval Academy, Lake Geneva, WI.
1st Platoon Commander, 2nd. John Prickett checks his map with Artillery Officer, 1st. Lt Richard “Butch” Neal (Silver Star). The picture was taken on the afternoon of 30 March just hours before the battle began. It was taken by Lance Corporal Jim Burghardt (Silver Star), Prickett’s radio operator. This picture would later serve as the dust cover for What Now Lieutenant? (available through Amazon), Butch Neal’s memoirs and treatise on leadership. The book was written after General Neal retired from the Marine Corps as the Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps with four stars on his shoulders.
Lance Corporal Jim Burghardt (Silver Star) and Lance Corporal Ed Spence. The radio on Burghardt’s back likely saved his life when it took a direct hit from an NVA machine gun as Burghardt covered the severely wounded Lt. Pricket with his own body to protect the lieutenant from further injury.
1st. Platoon Commander, 2nd. Lt. John Prickett who was severely wounded by machine gun fire as he maneuvered his platoon to break through the NVA blocking force to reach the company command post.
Artillery Officer and Forward Observer, 1st Lt. Richard “Butch” Neal (Silver Star) and 2nd. Platoon Commander, 2nd. Lt. Dan Pultz (right).
Lance Corporal Randy Plumbley went to law school after the war and became the District Attorney for Riverside, California. But he spent most of the Battle of Getlin’s Corner as an unwilling observer. Early in the battle, his position was overrun, and Plumley was captured and tied-up. The NVA were confident that they could return for their prisoner after they had destroyed all the other Marines.
HN3 Charles “Doc” Dockery was one of the many unrecognized heroes of the Battle of Getlin’s Corner and would later lose both of his legs due to wounds suffered at Getlin’s Corner. General Lewis Walt, Assistant Commandant of the Marines Corps and recipient of two Navy Crosses and a Silver Star, awards Doc Dockery a Purple Heart.
2nd. Lt. John Bobo (Medal of Honor) surrounded by Vietnamese children. John Bobo was an unlikely hero. Considered gentle and soft-spoken, friendly to everyone he met, and dearly loved by the enlisted Marines under his command, there was nothing in his demeanor that would indicate the fierce warrior he would become when the lives of his men were on the line at Getlin’s Corner.
This Vietnam War memorial poster was purchased at the Smithsonian Institute many years ago. The underlined names of the 15 Marines who fell at Getlin’s Corner can all be seen on The Wall where this poster was photographed.
Lance Corporal Jim Ethridge and Lance Corporal Joe Jordon. Of all that has been written and told about the Battle of Getlin’s Corner, nothing more eloquently expresses the feelings of all who survived the battle than this quote found in Colonel George Navadel’s extraordinary book about India Company, 3rd Battalion, 9th Marines, A Rifle Company’s Tale.
1st. Sergeant Ray Rogers (Navy Cross) and his beloved Thompson machine gun. “Top” Rogers was the senior enlisted Marine at Getlin’s Corner, and was no stranger to nose-to-nose combat. During the Korean War, at the infamous Battle of the Chosin Reservoir, he was one of only 36 survivors from his infantry company of 220 Marines.
