CPL.
WILLIAM WALTER LITTLE III
Born
on August 10, 1947
from BLOOMINGTON, ILLINOIS
Casualty was on November 7, 1967
in QUANG NAM, SOUTH VIETNAM
HOSTILE, GROUND CASUALTY
GUN, SMALL ARMS FIRE
Panel
29E--Row 41
Bill
Little
(picture courtesy of Roger Nicholson)
Cpl.
William Little served with the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines,
Mike Company. He was Killed In Action during Operation
ESSEX. His name stands proud on the Mike
3/5 Wall of Honor alongside the Marines he fought and died with.
Roger
Nicholson and Bill Little (right)
Bill
Little, Don Kretsinger and another guy named David Jones were all
from Illinois. They had a dollar bill torn into 3 pieces, and each
had a piece. I remember Bill talking about how they were going to
put it back together when they got back to the World, and have a beer
to celebrate living through that nightmare. I believe they all went
through boot camp together, and ended up in Mike Company 3/5. If
memory serves me, they were all killed in a short time span. Kretsinger
was killed the next day when he stepped on a booby-trapped bomb, I
am not sure about Jones, I believe he was shot.
Little (left) and myself (with the knife) during a little relaxing
time
After
we were bushwacked and the wounded were loaded on the chopper to BAS,
a second lieutenant, don't remember his name, was also KIA at that
time, and they forgot to put his body on the chopper and had to carry
it with them. The next day, the company was ambushed again, and they
took a lot of casualties. I watched the corpsman giving Little mouth
to mouth resuscitation all the way in to BAS trying his best to keep
him alive, it was a tough thing to watch.
I
was on the next bed while the doctors worked on Little trying to save
him, but they couldn't. The corpsman who was working on him (can't
remember his name) stayed at the aid station while the docs worked
on him. I can remember the corpsman broke down and cried when Little
died, we both took it very hard. It is a hard thing to go through
watching your pals die like that. I can still see him laying there
after 35 years.
Steve
Walker was on the chopper also, he was hit at the same time, I believe
he was hit in the leg also. He must have went on to another hospital,
lost track of him after that, until I found him on the "Mike
" web site along with some other guys I served with.~Semper fi,
Roger "Nick" Nicholson
Cpl. David Jones Memorial
Cpl. Donald Kretsinger Memorial
**************************************************************************
It
was his 22nd birthday
Little
was killed 7Nov. '67 on Operation ESSEX. Myself, Steve Walker-(Haygood
now) and Roger Nicholson were wounded as well as Little, and a brown
bar Lt. who was our platoon commander and had been incountry just
9 days.
The
platoon commander was killed instantly in the ambush. Little, Nicholson,
and I were medi-vac'd to BAS (Battalion Aid Station). I was treated
and given last rites, but I told the Chaplain to give Little rites
because I saw him get hit, and he had a bad sucking chest wound. He
was hit, and then a few seconds later I got hit.
I
was put on a chopper, and we waited about 20 minutes with the chopper
just idling. After about 15-20 minutes, the door gunner tapped me
on the shoulder, pointed to the BAS tent, and gave me a "thumbs
down." We then took off for Da Nang with only me on the chopper.
I found Little's sister about 12-13 yrs ago, and called her. She was
very curious about how he died, and coincidentally, it was his 22nd
Birthday when he got killed.
Semper
Fi,
Steve
"Bigfoot" Walker/ Haygood
Conive Mike One Alpha, 1st Plt. Mike 3/5
Mar-Nov 1967
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