William
A. Blewitt Jr., was born on March 4, 1950. He was the son of Mr.
and Mrs. William Blewitt, of South County Line Road., Wayne.
Pfc. Blewitt
dropped out of Upper Merion High School to enlist in the Marines last June.
He attended classes in the
Corps,
however, and was awarded his diploma in Hawaii. While his unit was sent to
Vietnam, Pfc. Blewitt was sent to Okinawa to await his 18th birthday, then
to Vietnam in February. He was killed June 19.
Besides his parents, William was survived by four brothers, Edwin, 17,
Anthony, 15, George, 10, and Joseph, 5, and a sister, Elizabeth Anne, 7.
Bruce Swander, a Vietnam Researcher contributes the following on the
battle in which William was killed:
Pfc. William A. Blewitt, Jr.
Arrived In-Country 28 March 1968
MOS 0331 – Machine Gunner
Quang Nam Province, Small-Arms fire
Delta Co, 1st Bn, 27th Reg, 1st Division
For years, the Viet Cong owned and controlled a small area of real
estate 10 miles SW of the port city of
Danang dubbed
Go Noi Island.
Technically not an island, when the monsoon season came the 4 nearby
rivers would overflow and isolate the land – where fighting was so
intense it became known as “Dodge City”. For two years the US Marines
had tried to rout the enemy from the area – an effort that would
continue for another 7 years with mixed successes and high casualties on
both sides.
In
June 1968,
Operation Allen Brook was in full swing at Dodge City – with over
2000 Marines sweeping through the area, trying to find hidden enemy
bases, and climbing into the numerous spider-hole tunnels. The heat,
coupled with carrying 60lbs. of gear, took its toll on the Americans
daily – with enemy encounters daily. In the first two weeks of June,
the 27th Regiment had lost 23 men – with no clear success of
driving the VC out.
June 19th started as any other day. Two Platoons from
Bravo Company started their daily search/destroy mission into the No Goi
Island arena. At 8:30AM they came under heavy fire and were pinned
down. A barrage of US artillery and helicopter support still didn’t
soften the enemy resistance – and reinforcements were sent in to help,
including Platoons from Delta Company.
The battle would rage on all day, and it wasn’t until just as the sun
was setting that the firing would subside. Once regrouped to settle in
for the night, the Marines tallied their losses – 6 KIA, 18 seriously
wounded, and another 12 incapacitated due to heat stroke. The fight at
Bac Dong Ban would be the last major battle for the 1st
Battalion under Operation Allen Brook (now dubbed Alien by the
Marines) – they left the area and turned it over to the 2nd
Battalion - who were greeted the first night with over 60 mortar rounds.
Notes:
An administrative coding error had erroneously placed Private Willam
Blewitt up in Quang Tri Province on his date of death. After locating
‘lost’ USMC records, verification was made that he – and his ammo
carrier for the machine gun – were both KIA at Go Noi Island in Quang
Nam Province. They were the only two casualties with Delta Company that
day.
Bruce Swander is one of five vets conducting KIA research for about
20 years now. The official designation is the "Coffelt Database" - an
effort of labor and love that is in the process of being turned over to
the National Archives.
Additional Information:
