“My Great Grandfather Joseph A. Tinder served with Robert E. Lee.
This photo is of me at 19 during my deployment to Phu Bai and TET 68. I served withe MCB-3 Seabees in Vietnam from Aug. 65 to late 68. I made four trips to Vietnam with the Seabees , one of which was to Chu Lai in 66. We built the base out on Rosemary’s Point. Rosemary’s Point is where we built a Seabee base named Camp Miller. I was not a Marine but a Seabee—-we dressed like Marines but were the Navy’s construction battalions—airports,roads,hospitals,bridges, etc. Photo is of my Brother Mike USMC.
My younger brother joined the Marines and served in Vietnam, and we were both in Vietnam at the same time in 68. That didn’t make Mom happy! My brother-in-law, Russ Russell, also a Seabee served in Vietnam 1968, and so did my other brother-in-law, Wayne Goodwin aboard ships as a fleet sailor. The two top photos are of my nephews who served in the fleet navy since the Gulf War. Photos of my brother and I are on the bottom left of the group photo. My nephews and their father, Rob Stevens, are also in this picture in the middle bottom row who served in the Coast Guard. You could say that we are a military kind of family…
In the evening hours of Jan.31, 1968, MCB-3 was hit again with rockets. After the all clear, I noticed members of the Security Company were in an uproar. It seems Richard Blevins was telling everyone he felt he was going to get killed that night. To calm the situation, I told Blevins that if he felt that way to go find him self a place alone and to stay there the rest of the night. The next morning on Feb.1st, Blevins comes running up to me saying ” hey Green I made it and I am flying home today. ” I responded with ” see all that worry last night for nothing. ” A short time later around noon time, we were hit with rockets again. Richard Blevins was killed instantly. I went to the CP to inform command of his death. I was ordered to go and remove his personal effects from his body. Richard laid there in the hot sun with his eyes wide open. As I knelt down, I began telling him how very sorry I was and started crying. Someone had to pull me up. But this is not the end to my story.
In 2011, I came across a gal on our battalion web site looking for information on her brothers death. It was Leslie Blevins French. We made contact via e-mail, and I assured her that he had not suffered and was not alone. Leslie and I are friends on Face Book and she attended our reunion last Sept at San Antonio . Her speech at the memorial service did not eave a dry eye in the room. Richard was our last loss of the Phu Bai deployment. In 2011, I began my healing and now a work in progress.
I will forever remember my fallen Brothers but making an honest attempt to loosen the grip of the sad memories of the Vietnam War…”
~Stephen Paul Green, Vietnam Veteran
We are very grateful to Stephen for sharing these photos and his story with Comes A Soldier’s Whisper, where we are all connected.
God Bless all who serve and keep us safe.
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