RIP, Marine

[PegLeg45]

Long-missing Colo. Marine buried with full honors

http://news.yahoo.com/long-missing-colo-marine-buried-full-honors-071458670.html

For 37 years, Delouise Guerra never knew for certain what happened to the young man she called her baby brother, an 18-year-old Marine from Colorado who was missing and presumed dead after a helicopter crash on the other side of the world.

The Defense Department, however, told Guerra two months ago it had positively identified the remains of the man who disappeared so long ago, Pfc. James Jacques.

"Oh my God, it's a relief to know that they have found his final remains," Guerra said. "It's just an honor to bring him home."

The Colorado Marine was killed during the rescue of the crew of the S.S. Mayaguez, an American cargo ship seized by Cambodia's Khmer Rouge two days earlier on May 12, 1975.

Jacques will be buried with full military honors at Fort Logan National Cemetery in Denver on Tuesday on what would have been his 56th birthday.

[Jrlobo]

This one brings a tear to my eye. I remember the Mayaguez incident and the rescue attempt all too well, but I signed NDAs and cannot explain how. We sent many rescuers to their deaths in that operation; many who needed rescuing themselves to no avail. Is this the last one of the bunch to be returned? Somehow, I doubt it. Maybe Tom knows.

[crusader rabbit]

RIP my brother.  I know you are safely bivouacked with the Celestial Army.

Crusader

[dipisc]

Hi;

     Has the status of the Machine Gun Crew that stayed behind to effect the evacuation of the other Marines on that Island been determined yet ?  No one knows for sure if they were killed or captured.

[Timothy]

Semper Fi. Private Jacques!

RIP Marine...

[Sponsor]

[tombogan03884]

One of my Drill Instructors was a gunner on one of the choppers.
If I remember correctly a total of 18 Marines and Corpsmen were left behind with many remains recovered in the 80's.
It got the job done, but it was a CF.

[RTFM]

Marine - you were never alone.
And you were never forgotten.

RIP

[Jrlobo]

Thanks for the reply, Tom. I figured if any of us knew the status of those brave souls, it would be you. Did your DI get back? Some choppers went down on that op.

[tombogan03884]

Thanks for the reply, Tom. I figured if any of us knew the status of those brave souls, it would be you. Did your DI get back? Some choppers went down on that op.

Yes, he got back, I enlisted about 2 years after that happened.

[Jrlobo]

I like it when the services choose a combat vet to be DI. Mine was a Korean War Capt who was captured, forced to move on as many a GI fell out on a forced POW march in winter and determined not to let that happen to us recruits (some of us were draftees). So he marched and ran our legs off across the sands of Ft Ord and made us run back to stragglers and pick them up. Never forgot that man as I learned he had taken a Chinese bayonet in the gut himself and still I couldn't keep up with him! Oh well, old timer memories.