I was supposed to be born.
My father, Dale G. Harris, was supposed to live but it would
be at the expense of another young life.
PVT Harris had joined the US Army in March 1966 as a Radio
Mechanic. After training at Ft. Benning
he was assigned to the Communications Platoon in the Headquarters Company of the
2nd Battalion, 47th Mechanized Infantry Regiment, 9th
Infantry Division at Ft. Riley, Kansas.
The 2nd Battalion moved out from San Francisco,
California on Jan 9, 1967 and arrived in Vietnam on Jan 29, 1967.
The 20 year old Private was assigned as a Radiotelephone
Operator (RTO) and from his arrival in January to June 1967 participated in all
combat operations that his company and battalion were assigned.
In June 1967, PVT Harris was going to be reassigned to the Ben-Wah base as a Radio Technician and his replacement had just arrived in country. PVT Harris had been training PVT Robert Allen Davis of Fort
Wayne, Indiana for two weeks when Dale received a mission.
Dale was to join his Captain, First Sergeant, driver and
gunner and go to a meeting at Camp Bearcat. They were to load up on an armored personnel carrier (APC) and drive from their current bivouac area to the camp.
Hearing about the mission, Robert told Dale that he
would go on the mission and that he should just stay back. “I have to learn the job anyway,” Robert said
as he geared up and went to join the group assigned to the mission.
Five minutes later, an explosion rocked the bivouac area. The APC carrying
the new RTO had run over an explosive device.
PVT Davis died in that explosion as well as the First Sergeant Gene Elwood Calph, Driver
Clyde Owenby and the gunner. The Captain
lost his arm.
Dale joined the detail assigned to recovering the bodies
of the soldiers that died in the explosion which included the young man that had taken his place on that failed mission.
A couple of weeks after that tragic event, a bible appeared on Dale's
bunk. It was the bible of PVT Robert
Allen Davis. To this day he is still
unsure how the bible came to be in his possession but has cared for this bible for
almost 50 years.
I am grateful that my father told me this story. Without having heard this significant story
about his life, I would not have known why he had Pvt Robert Allen Davis’ bible. Because someone has listened and recorded the story, this bible will survive pass my father's life and the story of a young man who died in
Vietnam will be interwoven into the Dales' personal history for his descendants to know.
On this Memorial Day, my hope is that you will talk to the member of your family that served in the Armed Forces. Take a moment to record their story and learn who they honor on this day. Please don’t let your
loved one’s story fade away. Record their stories so that they are preserved and passed down to
future generations.
Remember with Me is a family legacy company dedicated to
recording the stories of the individual and solidifying their place in their
family’s history. Please call us to
schedule a time with a trained Life Historian to tell your story, archive
heirlooms or identify family photos.
