Letters

      From      

Home

Please see new submissions from Alan Wendt below:

After Action Report

Click to enlarge

Click on thumbnails to enlarge

Alan Wendt, Ron Parker, Red Shithouse...Bastogne

Ed Bishop, Gramps and Alans feet

James Reilly, Sgt McCormick, Sgt Forrester?, Ron Parker, Valentines mail. 
Wood bunker under the 175's

James Reilly, east side Bastogne, below the 155's

 Sgt Mullins, not sure where, Birmingham or Bastogne?

Ed Bishop, Sgt McCormick, James Reilly, on Bastogne.

Mike Enking, Alan Wendt, Ed Bishop in the wooden bunker overlooking the log pad, Bastogne.

Ed Bishop, Mike "Gramps" Enking

Name:	Edward James Bishop,  Jr .
Rank/Branch:	Staff Sergeant/US Army
Unit:	Company A,  2nd Battalion, 501st Infantry,  101st Airborne Division
Date of Birth:	27 January 1949
Home of Record:	Hartford, CT
Date of Loss:	29 April 1970
Country of Loss:	South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates:	162622N  1071704E  (YD439188) Click coordinates to view (4) maps
Status in 1973:	Missing in Action
Category:	2
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground:	Ground
Other Personnel In Incident:	(none missing)

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS:   On 29 April 1970, then PFC Edward J. Bishop, Jr. was a rifleman assigned to Company A, 2nd Battalion, 501st Infantry, 101st Airborne Division. His company was part of the security detachment protecting Fire Support Base Granite, which was located on a high plateau in the rugged jungle covered mountains approximately 9 miles northeast of the A Shau Valley, 16 miles west of Hue City and 34 miles southeast of Khe Sanh. The fire support base was also located 14 miles northeast of the South Vietnamese/Lao border, Thua Thien Province, South Vietnam.

At approximately 2200 hours, PFC Bishop was manning an artillery firing position with other soldiers at Fire Support Base Granite, when the firebase came under hostile mortar and ground attack by North Vietnamese Army (NVA) troops throwing satchel charges and firing rocket propelled grenades (RPG) at American positions. During the NVA assault, the artillery firing position was severely hit by both types of ordnance.

The platoon leader, who had also been in the artillery firing position with PFC Bishop and others, last saw him firing at an enemy soldier to his front. As the platoon leader crawled away from the artillery position in the darkness, he looked back in time to see a large explosion and what appeared to be bodies flying through the air. The battle for control of Fire Support Base Granite raged throughout the night.

The next morning, the survivors initiated searches to locate the wounded, recover the dead and determine if anyone was missing. As the artillery firing position was examined, only parts of another soldier who was also known to be in the firing position at the time the platoon leader vacated it were recovered. After a complete search of the fire support base was completed, only one soldier, Edward Bishop, was not found either alive or dead. Because it was entirely possible PFC Bishop left that firing position before the explosion, Edward Bishop was listed Missing In Action at the time the formal search effort was terminated.

If Edward Bishop died in the fierce fight for control of Fire Support Base Granite, he has a right to have his remains returned to his family, friends and country if at all possible. However, if he survived the attack, there is every reality he could have been captured and removed from the battle site by the NVA involved in the attack. If so, his fate like that of other Americans who remain unaccounted for in Southeast Asia, could be quite different.

Since the end of the Vietnam War well over 21,000 reports of American prisoners, missing and otherwise unaccounted for have been received by our government. Many of these reports document LIVE American Prisoners of War remaining captive throughout Southeast Asia TODAY.

American servicemen in Vietnam were called upon to operate in many dangerous circumstances both on and off duty, and they were prepared to be wounded, killed or captured. It probably never occurred to them that they could be abandoned by the country they so proudly served.

Please see the new pictures submitted by Rod Songer below:

Does anyone recognize the person next to Ned Kintzer?

Click on thumbnails to enlarge

Click on thumbnails to enlarge

Click on thumbnails to enlarge

Click on thumbnails to enlarge