Submitted by
Name: Hurst Palfey Rinehart
From: Michigan and now England since 1971
Website: http://drpalfi.co.uk
E-mail: Contact
Name: Hurst Palfey Rinehart
From: Michigan and now England since 1971
Website: http://drpalfi.co.uk
E-mail: Contact
Comments:
Update 4 from "Doc" Rinehart. I have spoken with George Red Elk who remembers lifting a KIA out of his Tank D13 on August 13, 1969 in a Firefight at Loc Ninh. He does not remember the man's name but that he had only been on D13 a few days. "Chief", as I heard him called that day" was TC, but said he was loader that day and had given Sgt Charles Crockett Matthews Command of the tank. I think Mattews had been on D33 with 3rd Platoon and Ken Hendricks before, but D33 had been blown up. Red Elk remembers that all 3 Platoons were out together that day. Matthews was the only KIA in 11ACR that day. He had just sent his wife Mary a letter that morning marked Noon August 13, 1969. The 1st Platoon leader Lt. Richard Wallach was also horribly wounded in that Ambush. He was shot through one lung and his arm. He was dusted off on the same chopper as Sgt Matthews and laid out upon his corpse. There was a Medic Wallach remembers as Stephans. The only Stephans I can find in any of the Unit Rosters is Ronald E. Stephens of HHT 1st Squadron. I do not know if he was a Medic. Perhaps it was a Medic on a dust off chopper from another unit. I am in communication with Charles Crockett Matthews's widow Mrs Mary Matthews Singleton and she has been most grateful to receive more details surrounding the circumstances of her husband's death. They were childhood sweethearts and married for four years since the age of 18. As I mentioned before, the Loader on the Tank D31 that I rode on with Lt Steven Linthwaite, was wounded in the legs from the shrapnel caused by an RPG that went through the front of our tank. I would like to know his name too. It might have been John Klinepeter or Larry Parks. I am still looking for the Afro American Medic I spoke to the day after the big Firefight on the 13th where Matthews was killed. You can see a picture of him with Lt Steven H.Linthwaite at an October 69 Stand Down in Quan Loi in a picture in Quinton and Avery's D Company Website in the 1969 Photo Gallery by Ron Pineau. Please forgive me for all these long drawn out inquiries, but I have let all this lie for 45 years and need to resolve things a little. I'll repeat: I was only in Heavy Combat 3 days and nights and home in about 10 days and in serious shock for about 6 months. I have suffered with PTSD every since and any names will help. I do not expect miracles, but I have made tremendous progress so far over the last 5 months thanks to this wonderful website, Whitepages and talking with and exchanging emails with 11thACR Tankers: contacting and discovering the Platoon Leader I was with that fatal day(Steven H. Linthwaite), the name of the KIA that day(Charles Crockett Matthews), where I was(Loc Ninh NDP), the unit I was with (£rd Platoon D Company), and the man who lifted Charles Crockett Matthews, 22 years old and In Country only 55 days out from a large puddle of blood in the bottom of a tank(D13) I was called to attend(George Red Elk, exchanged emails and Facebook Messages with his widow (Mary Matthews Singleton of Clyde, North Carolina)and learned a great deal about how a squadron is structured, operates and how a crew functions. I have also discovered that, in spite, of how "tight" certain tank crews were, not many people knew others outside of it and sometime did not even get to know the names of fellow crew members, because people were shifted about so often to fulfill vacancies, dusted off, replaced, and killed. I spent most of my time in fairly secure rear areas helping to run the Aid Station at Regimental Headquarters in Bien Hoa, at the 37th Medical Company Emergency Unit at Blackhorse Camp, working in the Vietnamese Hospital at Xuan Loc and at Quan Loi. Yes; I treated the severely wounded, processed a couple of KIA's, experience a few rocket attacks and drove the ambulance with the severely wounded and KIA's through tracers at night from Bien Hoa to the Hospital at Long Binh, went out on MEDCAPS,but my 3 days and nights with D Company were Hell on Earth. I am actually glad I experienced it, even though it tore me open a new perspective I lived for 3 days only what 1 out of 12 guys went through for months on end. Absolute terror, loneliness and a harsh reality. Big respect!
Update 4 from "Doc" Rinehart. I have spoken with George Red Elk who remembers lifting a KIA out of his Tank D13 on August 13, 1969 in a Firefight at Loc Ninh. He does not remember the man's name but that he had only been on D13 a few days. "Chief", as I heard him called that day" was TC, but said he was loader that day and had given Sgt Charles Crockett Matthews Command of the tank. I think Mattews had been on D33 with 3rd Platoon and Ken Hendricks before, but D33 had been blown up. Red Elk remembers that all 3 Platoons were out together that day. Matthews was the only KIA in 11ACR that day. He had just sent his wife Mary a letter that morning marked Noon August 13, 1969. The 1st Platoon leader Lt. Richard Wallach was also horribly wounded in that Ambush. He was shot through one lung and his arm. He was dusted off on the same chopper as Sgt Matthews and laid out upon his corpse. There was a Medic Wallach remembers as Stephans. The only Stephans I can find in any of the Unit Rosters is Ronald E. Stephens of HHT 1st Squadron. I do not know if he was a Medic. Perhaps it was a Medic on a dust off chopper from another unit. I am in communication with Charles Crockett Matthews's widow Mrs Mary Matthews Singleton and she has been most grateful to receive more details surrounding the circumstances of her husband's death. They were childhood sweethearts and married for four years since the age of 18. As I mentioned before, the Loader on the Tank D31 that I rode on with Lt Steven Linthwaite, was wounded in the legs from the shrapnel caused by an RPG that went through the front of our tank. I would like to know his name too. It might have been John Klinepeter or Larry Parks. I am still looking for the Afro American Medic I spoke to the day after the big Firefight on the 13th where Matthews was killed. You can see a picture of him with Lt Steven H.Linthwaite at an October 69 Stand Down in Quan Loi in a picture in Quinton and Avery's D Company Website in the 1969 Photo Gallery by Ron Pineau. Please forgive me for all these long drawn out inquiries, but I have let all this lie for 45 years and need to resolve things a little. I'll repeat: I was only in Heavy Combat 3 days and nights and home in about 10 days and in serious shock for about 6 months. I have suffered with PTSD every since and any names will help. I do not expect miracles, but I have made tremendous progress so far over the last 5 months thanks to this wonderful website, Whitepages and talking with and exchanging emails with 11thACR Tankers: contacting and discovering the Platoon Leader I was with that fatal day(Steven H. Linthwaite), the name of the KIA that day(Charles Crockett Matthews), where I was(Loc Ninh NDP), the unit I was with (£rd Platoon D Company), and the man who lifted Charles Crockett Matthews, 22 years old and In Country only 55 days out from a large puddle of blood in the bottom of a tank(D13) I was called to attend(George Red Elk, exchanged emails and Facebook Messages with his widow (Mary Matthews Singleton of Clyde, North Carolina)and learned a great deal about how a squadron is structured, operates and how a crew functions. I have also discovered that, in spite, of how "tight" certain tank crews were, not many people knew others outside of it and sometime did not even get to know the names of fellow crew members, because people were shifted about so often to fulfill vacancies, dusted off, replaced, and killed. I spent most of my time in fairly secure rear areas helping to run the Aid Station at Regimental Headquarters in Bien Hoa, at the 37th Medical Company Emergency Unit at Blackhorse Camp, working in the Vietnamese Hospital at Xuan Loc and at Quan Loi. Yes; I treated the severely wounded, processed a couple of KIA's, experience a few rocket attacks and drove the ambulance with the severely wounded and KIA's through tracers at night from Bien Hoa to the Hospital at Long Binh, went out on MEDCAPS,but my 3 days and nights with D Company were Hell on Earth. I am actually glad I experienced it, even though it tore me open a new perspective I lived for 3 days only what 1 out of 12 guys went through for months on end. Absolute terror, loneliness and a harsh reality. Big respect!
Added: June 14, 2015
Name: Hurst Palfey Rinehart
From: Michigan and I have lived in England since 1971
Website: http://drpalfi.co.uk
E-mail: Contact
Update 5. You can see the 1st 470+ photos I have scanned so far of the 2,000 or so that I took in Viet Nam August 68-69 in my Facebook Albums. My Facebook link is Palfi Laughologist Rinehart. Click on "Photos", click on "Albums", go down to the 7th row to a picture of a really hard looking Afro American Trooper. That is my Viet Nam Album "Clown at War" Album. I hope you enjoy it. Any "Comments", criticisms or added information are appreciated. My phone number in England is 01144 1329 832695. Ring anytime and I can call you back immediately. Be Lucky, "Doc" Rinehart AKA Hurst Palfet Rinehart "Palfi"