A Day of Remembrance

I never had a chance to meet him, because his father married my mother years after he died, but they called him a "baby killer". He was reviled, ridiculed and slandered by many of his countrymen. But he never heard the calumnies and the insults, because by the time the letters containing them were delivered to his parents' home, he already had been buried following a military funeral.

In the pre-dawn hours of July 7, 1968, at a remote outpost near the Cambodian border, the 24-year-old officer was in charge of an artillery battery whose job it was to cut off an escape route into Cambodia that was being used by North Vietnamese forces. An NVA unit of vastly superior numbers launched a surprise attack on the position being occupied by elements of the 12th Marines. Rousing from sleep, the young officer rallied his men and engaged in close combat with the enemy. After dispatching up to 24 enemy soldiers while reversing the direction of his artillery unit, the officer was cut down by fire from a Russian-made AK-47. However, his quick and decisive action in re-positioning his artillery resulted in successfully repelling the enemy attack, with only 15 American casualties (including himself) and saving the lives of many of his comrades.

He was posthumously awarded the Silver Star for his gallantry.

His father, who served with the Marines in the Pacific during World War II, grieved the only way he knew how. His father was a writer, so he wrote a moving and thought-provoking article about his son for Reader's Digest. After the piece was published, a flood of hate mail flowed into his father's mailbox. Three years later, still grieving the death of his only child, the father used the hate mail as the backdrop for a new novel, Next of Kin. Although no longer in print, the book can be found in many bookstores and online, and it tells the poignant story of the nation's confusion and division concerning Vietnam that was prevalent at the time.

Today is Memorial Day. I urge all who view this to join me in remembering those who sacrificed their lives in the service of their country, especially the more than 58,000 who did so during a very unpopular war and who, rather than being honored, were reviled by their countrymen.

As has been said by many who have experienced combat, the only true heroes are those who didn't make it back.

Today I remember with honor and deep appreciation my step-brother, 2d Lt. Michael Lee Dewlen. And although I never got to meet him, I am proud to call him my brother.

R. David Weaver

P.S. -- If you are interested in reading his father's book, you likely can find it by Googling "Al Dewlen" and going to one of the sites that offer his work.

RDW