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My brother, Anthony John Pepper (Tony) served
with Golf Company 2/26 and was killed April 6, 1968 at Khe Sanh. I
would love to hear from anyone who was there, who might have known
him, or was nearby on that day. I am writing a book about him and
would love anyone's thoughts. He was never sent home.
We had a memorial service for him at Arlington
this past April. Several of the Marines he served with came and paid
their respects. It was truly wonderful.
SEMPER FI and God Bless,
Carrie Pepper
HISTORY:
In April 1968, Cpl. James
M. "Jim" Trimble and PFC Anthony J. "Tony" Pepper were members of
Company G, which was conducting a search and destroy operation to
interdict enemy activity moving from Laos into the northwestern
provinces of South Vietnam. When North Vietnam began to increase its
military strength in South Vietnam, NVA and Viet Cong troops again
intruded on neutral Laos for sanctuary, as the Viet Minh had done
during the war with the French some years before. This border road
was used by the Communists to transport weapons, supplies and troops
from North Vietnam into South Vietnam, and was frequently no more
than a path cut through the jungle covered mountains. US forces used
all assets available to them to stop this flow of men and supplies
from moving south into the war zone.
On 6 April 1968, Company G engaged a large communist force in heavy
combat on a grassy hillside overlooking and in view of the Khe Sanh
Combat Base. The battle site was located approximately one mile west
of Route 608, less than two miles northwest of the combat base, six
miles northwest of the city of Khe Sanh, nine miles east of the
South Vietnamese/Lao border and 24 miles south of the demilitarized
zone (DMZ), Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam.
Cpl. Trimble and PFC
Pepper quickly established a fighting position within a bomb crater.
During the vicious battle that raged around them, several Marines
were killed and wounded, and the bomb crater in which the two
Marines were located took a direct hit from a mortar round. After
several unsuccessful
attempts were made to recover Jim Tremble and Tony Pepper's remains
by surviving members of Company G, their unit was forced to withdraw
from the grassy hill under fire.
On 7 April 1968, US
forces returned to the battle site. During an extensive search and
recovery (SAR) operation, the unit recovered the bodies of nine
Americans, but found no sign of Cpl. Trimble of PFC Pepper in or
around the area. At the time the formal search was terminated, Jim
Tremble and Tony Pepper were declared Killed in Action/Body Not
Recovered.
On 24 June 1993, a joint
American/Vietnamese team under the auspices of the Joint Task Force
for Full Accounting (JTFFA) traveled to the area of loss where
Company G had been engaged in combat. Team members interviewed local
residents, but located no witnesses who had information pertaining
to this case. The team also traveled to the battle site to conduct a
surface search for the missing Marines, but found no remains or
personal effects belonging to either Cpl. Trimble or PFC Pepper.
After completing the
surface search, the team determined that Jim Trimble and Tony Pepper
died as a result of a direct mortar hit during the battle in which
nine others were killed; and that the day after the battle, the area
was thoroughly searched and the remains of the other nine men were
recovered and subsequently identified. Further, during the original
search, no trace of either Marine was found in or around the bomb
crater. Based on these facts, the JTFFA team determined, "It is
unreasonable to expect that bone splinters could be located 25 years
after the incident in a case such as this. The remains of each
individual are unrecoverable."
The fate of Jim Trimble
and Tony Pepper is not in doubt and there is virtually no chance
that their remains are recoverable today. Above all else, these men
have the right not to be forgotten by the nation for which they gave
their lives.
The 26th Marines Ladies
2/26th Marine Veterans with Carrie Pepper
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Memorial Marker
Flag Arrives
Rifle Salute
Folding of Flag
Chaplain and Gunny Give Final Salute
Carrie Pepper with Folded Flag
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