19Jul1950 – 12Mar1970
Edison Days
Gerald attended Edison in from 1967 to 1969. He withdrew from school to enlist in the Army.
Military Service
Rank: Corporal
Branch: United States Army
Unit: Charlie Company – 506th Infantry Regiment – 101st Airborne Division
Gerald enlisted in the Army in February 1969. It is unknown where he attended basic training. After 8 weeks of basic training and 8 weeks of Advanced Individual Training Gerald was sent to Vietnam on 7Jul1968.
Soldiers joining the 101st Airborne Division typically spent 5 to 7 days at SERTS (Screaming Eagle Replacement Training School) at Camp Eagle, the division’s massive base camp located between Huế and Phú Bài. At SERTS soldiers began to acclimatize to the brutal heat and humidity, fired their weapons, and learned about the tactics of the enemy.
From July into mid-August 1969, 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 506th were still on the high ground east of the A Shau Valley and north of the Rao Lao, finishing Operation Montgomery Rendezvous under Kentucky Jumper. They held and patrolled around firebases such as Airborne, Berchtesgaden, Currahee, and O’Reilly, took sapper attacks on the bases
Through late summer and fall they worked Operations Richland Square, then Republic Square and Saturate, out of Camp Evans and satellite bases like Rakkasan and O’Reilly. The missions included cutting NVA movement from the mountains into the Huế rice plain, hunting caches, securing roads, protect combat engineers, and operating with the ARVN 1st Division as the northeast monsoon closed in. From 7Dec1969 through February 1970 that pattern was formalized as Operation Randolph Glen.
On March 12, Alpha Company made an exploratory insertion onto the hill that became Firebase Ripcord and was driven off by rocket propelled grenade (RPG), mortar, and small-arms fire. Gerald’s Charlie Company was the blocking force on the Dong Ke Me ridge line in support of Alpha Company. Gerald was the point man that day.
While in a defensive position for the night, the North Vietnamese attacked, and Gerald was killed in action when he struck was by an RPG.
Gerald’s funeral was held on 25Mar1970.
Gerald is buried at Fort Snelling National Cemetery in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Gerald’s name is inscribed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. on Panel 13W, Line 120.
Postscript
Gerald was featured in a local television news story on 23Jul2023. Click on the link below to view the story.
Edison Heroes 