Marine Corps Base Quantico -- “The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it should never forget what our honored did,” said Robert Koury, who served with 1st Battalion, 1st Marines, in Vietnam. Quoting Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg address, Koury and the Marines from 1st Battalion, 1st Marines took the next step in their war journey.
Together with family members and friends, the combat veterans from the storied battalion brought their scattered brothers home by dedicating a new memorial at the National Museum of the Marine Corps, and starting the longest part of their war journey: healing.
The dedication ceremony was held in the United States Marine Memorial Chapel aboard Marine Corps Base Quantico and was attended by approximately 75 combat veterans, several dozen who wear the Purple Heart.
Punctuated by bugle calls, Koury recalled the experience of the Vietnam infantry Marine. From going through basic training, deploying to Vietnam and the stark emotional realities of being or befriending the, “New Guy,” Koury spoke about the stages of change for a Marine serving in Vietnam.
“You have survived your journey to war, and are ready to begin your journey from war…However, it is a very different you who are leaving. You are absolutely not the same person who started your journey to war months earlier,” continued Koury. “You have returned from war with aching scars from your sores and wounds, haunted, edgy, angry, moody, pissed off, and still hostile — damned hostile.”
Koury then turn turned to Marines who did not survive their war journey — the “scattered,” as they were known. “During the six-year period of its deployment in Vietnam, 1st Battalion, 1st Marines lost 567 Marines and corpsmen killed in action,” said Koury.
Recalling the long journey back to their place of burial, Koury said, “Their mourners simply did not have a clue who they had become during their journey to war — the new him. They were mourning a stranger. And sadly, we, the only ones who now truly knew them, could not be at their final destination to be with them, comfort them, and mourn their passing.
“But today, we are going to begin a new chapter in the war journey for both us and our fallen. And this new chapter is named, ‘Welcome Home, Brother.’”
Following the dedication of the new memorial, each of the names of the 567 Marines and corpsmen killed in action from the years 1965-1971 from 1/1 were read aloud. The readers were Marines, and family members of the fallen, including Dolia Gonzalez, mother of Medal of Honor recipient Sgt. Alfredo Gonzalez. After each name was read, a bell was rung in their honor.
Following the dedication ceremony, a wreath was placed at the memorial.
“You hear the names of all the people and today meant a lot. You can’t put things at rest really, but it just does your heart some good,” said Lee Edgar who served in Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 1st Marines.