The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Sergeant [then Corporal] Clemence T. Matye (MCSN: 2297648), United States Marine Corps, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action in connection with operations against Viet Cong forces while a tank crewman with 3d Platoon, Company B, First Tank Battalion, supporting Third Battalion, Seventh Marines, FIRST Marine Division (Rein.), in the DaNang area of the Republic of Vietnam on 12 November 1968. After completing a road minesweep operation, Sergeant Matye's tank embarked seven infantrymen before returning to their base camp. Shortly after, the Viet Cong command detonated a forty pound fragmentation mine beside the moving tank. This explosion killed four Marines outright and wounded six others. Sergeant Matye found that his leg was severed at the knee and bleeding profusely. He also had shrapnel protruding from his eye. Displaying cool deliberation, Sergeant Matye removed his belt and applied it to his let as a tourniquet on his severed leg. Small arms fire then broke out, but Sergeant Matye refused evacuation from his exposed position and remained at the tank's fifty caliber machine gun while his wounded tank commander went inside the tank to summon help on the radio. During the time remaining before help arrived, Sergeant Matye's calm reassuring manner and continuing smoothing monologue to those present was a source of great strength to the other wounded Marines, especially considering the very apparent devastating wounds that he had suffered. When the medical evacuation helicopter arrived, Sergeant Matye only agreed to evacuation after all other wounded Marines were loaded aboard the aircraft. By his courageous actions, personal initiative, and complete deduction to duty, Sergeant Matye reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and of the United States Naval Service.

 

Action Date: November 12, 1968

Service: Marine Corps

Rank: Corporal

Company: Company B

Battalion: 1st Tank Battalion

Regiment: 7th Marines

Division: 1st Marine Division (Rein.), FMF

Platinum Plus

Chuck Garrison

Joe Martinez

 

Platinum  

Peter Brush*
Dick Carey* 

Darrell and Jeni Cox   

The Foundation is proud to announce that there has been quite a positive response to our e-mail asking for your help; financial  assistance, submission of your personal stories, and recollections of your "Vietnam Days", adding   to the Foundation Library, and volunteering to carry some of the day-to-day work load. The level of financial contributions are recognized with an Award Certificate as follows:

Federal Way, WA 98023

                                                                                 Thank you!

 

IRS Tax EIN 91-2111544 

By Ric Langley

3rd MarDiv, 3rd Tank Bn. Charlie Co., 1st Plt.

 

Ric Langley & Alvin Hamby

January of 1964 opened probably the most defining year of my life. I was to leave the NCO ranks as Sergeant of Marines; join those of a Commissioned Officer; be awarded a college degree (paid for by the Marine Corps); get married; enter; and graduate from The Basic School at MCB Quantico; and meet a 1st Lt Pierpan, USMC who was wearing a Purple Heart ribbon for wounds he'd received in a place I'd never heard of - "Viet Nam." Within 7 months of talking with Lt Pierpan, I was "there."

 

If I had only known then what I know (or think I know!) now. And few books - of the many I've read and reported on since - would have better prepared me for what was to be the dominant factor in my life for many years (and maybe still!) than "Triumph Forsaken: The Vietnam War, 1954-1965" (2006) by Mark Moyar.

 

Mr. Moyar is considered a "Revisionist" aligned opposite the "Orthodox" in the context of the historians of the Vietnam War. The two camps argue the cause, conduct, and outcome of the American involvement in the Vietnam War from diametrically opposed theories and philosophies. At one end of the spectrum there are those who believe we should have never entered the war and those who believe the war was the "right" war in the "right" place. There are those who claim the war could have never been won the way it was fought and those who believe we could have won it if we'd have just fought it differently - "hearts and minds vs. body count," "bomb Hanoi/Haiphong vs the Ho Chi Minh Trail".

 

In rather general terms the conservative philosophy is found in the "Revisionist" camp, the liberal thinkers in the "Orthodox". Moyar's heavily researched and documented book with many primary sources cited has been both praised (lightly and mostly by the Revisionists) and criticized (heavily and mostly by the academic, liberal, and "Orthodox" writers.)

 

If one doesn't, or didn't, know the difference between those who have placed themselves on one side or the other of the debate and reads Moyar's book with an open mind - starting with Chapter 13 - he will probably find that he's in agreement with the Revisionists' point of view. So be it. But in any case, "Triumph Forsaken" is a good read. I wish it would have been written (and read) in 1965 before I set foot - or tank track - on that sandy South China Sea beach.  

The history of the Veterans Affairs Loan program dates back to World War II. However, to really understand how the VA Loan came into being, you have to know where it came from.  In 1930, the Veterans Administration was established, and the first administrator, Brigadier General Frank T. Hines, was appointed. The Veterans Administration (now called the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs) was created with the mission to care for America's veterans. Initially, the main role of the Veterans Administration was to provide medical and hospital treatment along with disability and rehabilitation assistance and insurance for service members. However, the need for more assistance to our country's veterans came just after the end of World War II when more than 16 million veterans returned home. President Roosevelt wanted an assistance program to help transition the soldiers from the battleground to the home-ground. So, the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944 (aka the G.I. Bill) passed through Congress, opening up more benefit options to veterans and their families. In addition to providing education and financial assistance, one of the largest and most important provisions of the bill was the guarantee that veterans would receive access to a low interest, zero-down-payment home loan.

The VA Loan benefit would help these veterans, many of whom left for war straight out of school without the opportunity to build credit or pursue higher education, with the means to become homeowners after the war. In other words, it was one way for the government to ensure that the veterans were put on equal terms with their civilian peers when it came to home ownership.

While veterans today can get a home loan for zero down and no primary mortgage insurance, or refinance a home up to 100% of its value, the original VA Loan program had a maximum guaranty amount of 50% of the loan, not to exceed $2,000.

The first significant change to the program came in 1950 where the guaranty was raised to 60%, not to exceed $7,500, and the benefits were now extended to widowed spouses of soldiers who had died in service or as a result of a service-related injury. The funding fee was introduced at this time as well.

The next major milestone of the VA Loan program was the creation of the Veteran's Housing Act of 1970. The law made seven major changes to the program:

1.      Authorized a manufactured home loan program

2.      Authorized loans for condos

3.      Authorized refinancing on condos

4.      Authorized direct loans for veterans qualified for Specially            Adapted Housing Grants

5.      Eliminated the terminal date of the direct loan program

6.      Eliminated the funding fee for post-Korean War veterans

7.      Eliminated the delimited dates on veterans' entitlements

The delimitation of dates meant that the entitlement of every eligible veteran remained available until they were used.

The program continued to thrive, and with the enactment of the Veterans Home Loan Program Amendments of 1992, the VA Loan program became available to Reservists and National Guard service members.

Today, the VA Loan program remains one of the most used benefits offered by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. To get a loan from the VA, a veteran or eligible service member must apply to an approved lender, like Quicken Loans. Our team works hard to provide high-level service along with an easy-to-follow mortgage process. If you're interested in learning more about your VA Loan options, call one of our Home Loan Experts - VA Unit - today at (800) 624-4039.

North Vietnamese Army (NVA) 320th Division: Click here

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