Lance Corporal
Ronald Lee Longanecker
United States Marines
By George G. Neville, Jr.
On 8 July 1966 LCpl Ronald Lee Longanecker, age
18, became the first Marine who was killed in action from hostile causes in
Quang Tri Province. He was a member of Alpha Company, 3rd Recon Battalion.
The following is taken from the After Action Report 3-66 dated 8 July
1966 and from my personal memories.
On 23 June 1966 a recon unit was
formed from Recon Group Bravo which at the time was located at Phu Bai and
moved to an area near the Dong Ha Airstrip. The reconnaissance operation was
called Task Unit Charlie. It was sent north to verify if the NVA had
infiltrated through the DMZ. This task organized mission was in support of the
forthcoming Operation Hastings. On July 1st patrols began to be inserted by
CH-46 helicopters into the unknown jungle terrain. Between 1-7 July, four recon
patrols were inserted but then emergency extracted because of massed troops of
the North Vietnamese Army that were occupying the zones.
On 8 July at
1630 hours, Recon Team Partyline, a sixteen-man patrol, was inserted at
YD058498. Upon insertion, it was taken under fire by numerous small arms and
automatic weapons. It was extracted without incident. At 1815 hours the team
was in the process of insertion into a different zone, at YD072468, when NVA
were observed in the LZ. The NVA opened fire and the first helicopter pulled
out of the LZ and radioed the second to do the same. The second helicopter
attempted to pull out before landing but lost engine power. To lighten the
load, the pilots jettisoned fuel but crashed while doing so and immediately
burst into flames. All but one Marine was able to exit the burning helo. Ronald
Lee Longanecker perished in the blaze. The reconners and the helo crew then
evaded the NVA and were picked up by another helicopter at YD059465. During
this attempted insertion seven men from the Partyline Team were also
WIA.
Ronald Lee Longanecker also became the first Marine to be listed
as Killed In Action/Body not recovered in Quang Tri Province. The crash site
was never searched by friendly forces.
To date the JTFFA has not
searched the site which is in an area southwest of Cam Lo.
Information provided by
George G. Neville, Jr. who served
with Ronald Lee Longanecker.
Check out George Neville's main web site
Alpha Company- 3rd
Reconnaissance Battalion. Also his most interesting work on
Operation Hastings and
Alpha Company MIA
page.
The page on Lance Corporal Longanecker can be found under
Some Gave All on the Operation Hastings page. My most gracious thank you to
George Neville for allowing me the use of his accurate and personal account of
Ronald Lee Longanecker's loss.
My Time With Ron In
Vietnam
By Charlie Asencio
I'll start by saying how sad
and sorry this has made me feel. That Ron's mother took her life. I guess that
the entire family became a casualty of war. I wish I would have had a way to
contact his family years ago. (Sorry)
All I can tell you is that Ron and
I were in different helicopters and his was under hostile fire. His chopper was
shot down and we were told that there weren't any survivors. My platoon
Sergeant told me I have bad news for you kid, your friend Lcpl. Longanecker was
in the chopper that was shot down. I didn't see Ron's helicopter when it got
hit. It never crossed my mind that Ron was in the chopper that got shot
down.
I spent almost six weeks with Ron and two other Marines on top of
a mountain called Dong Den. Our mission was to observe Viet Cong activities and
not make any contact. Ron would talk about his family a lot and he carried
their pictures and his girl's picture dancing ballet in a black outfit. Ron and
I became close friends and as a rule you should never make friends with anyone
while you're in combat. But we broke this rule and we counted on each other and
that was more important to us. Now I'm thinking of all the things in life he
missed out on.
I'm glad Ron has someone other than me who thinks about
him. Now George must be a good friend of Ron's!!! What he wrote was very
moving. As for talking about Vietnam I still have a difficult time with the
subject, but I'm willing to try and tell you whatever you need to know about
Ron and our unit. I can tell you he showed me a picture of this pretty girl,
and had me write a letter to her. Well about a month later the girl answered my
letter. And you would not believe this but the girl turned out to be his little
sister. I'm pretty sure it wasn't her picture he showed me. I think his sister
was about 7 years old maybe younger. We found this to be very funny.
I
wrote on Ron's page about our friendship the way we said good-bye! And we
probably both felt something was going to happen to one of us. In July Ron and
I were taken to the post called "Dong Den" which was not far from Ba-Na. We
were relieved from this post and returned to Camp Reasoner. We were separated
and sent on a mission in different choppers. We joked about us making it
through the war without being a KIA casualty. As we said good-bye and hugged
there was a strange feeling and even stranger look in each others eyes. I felt
that this was the last time I would see Ron. I wasn't sure which one of us was
going to survive. But I remember thinking in my mind I hope we both make it. I
knew from being there a year that this operation we were going on was known as
a V.C. stronghold and high enemy activity area. Also an area we were getting
high casualties. We then got into different choppers and waved at each other
giving the thumbs up sign. That was the last time I saw Ron. Ron's chopper was
shot down.
I served in Vietnam from July 1965 until July 1966. I left
two weeks after Ron's death. Felt horrible that my friend was killed and wanted
to stay to avenge his death. I think I was one of the youngest Marines in
combat at the time. My Dad wrote a letter to the President about my being in
combat. But by the time they found me I had already been in country 6 months
and had already turned 18. I finished my tour and was ordered home. Patti and
George, thank you both for keeping our friend alive on your mind this many
years.
The following is written by Lcpl Charles Asencio to Lcpl.
Ron Longanecker on the Vietnam Memorial Wall Page (http://thewall-usa.com/)
A Friend who
served together.
You will always live forever in my mind.
Ron: I'll
always remember you teaching me how to read the bible. And when we got on
different choppers to leave the mountain called Ba-Na, and how we said good-bye
July 1966. I know you're up there still looking out for you family. My friend
you will live forever in my mind. There hasn't been a year that I don't think
of you. Thank you! Your Friend Rican Recon Lcpl.C.Asencio Thursday, September
16, 2004
I want to express my gratitude to Charles for adding this
personal account on Ron's page. Thank you for coming forward with your
memories.
I received this e-mail from Dev July
30, 2005.
He would love to hear from any of LCpl Longanecker's friends or
family.
Hello
My name is Dev Gage and I proudly wore his braclet
for 9 years before losing it. I got the bracelet at the WALL while on leave. I
wore it 24/7 and took it off and it felt like it was still there. When i was
looking at the bracelets i wanted one from Oregon. And his was the first one i
picked up. His last name just caught my eye. During the rest of my time in the
corps i said his name often. Every time i got a beer i would say his last name.
And in that way i will never forget him and what he did for us.
SGT
Gage D R
8 DEC 1980
3 APR 1991
Bend Or
SEMPERFI
dgage@uci.net
POW/MIA Graphic by Ron Fleischer.