Andrew Giordano, Mike 3/5

LCpl. Andrew Mix Giordano served with the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, M Company. He was Killed In Action during Operation SWIFT. His name stands proudly on the Mike 3/5 Wall of Honor. Semper Fi, Brother Marine. We will never forget.

When my parents and I went to Fredricksburg, VA. to visit my brother and sister-in-law a couple of years ago for Thanksgiving, we decided to spend part of the day in D.C. We stopped in the Air and Space museum for a couple of hours then, as we walked around, we stumbled onto first the Korean Wall Pictograpoh, then, we wound up by The Wall. I never knew my dad knew someone who died there. I guess he figured I was always too young to understand or since I was his only daughter, he wanted to protect me. Anyway, this was when I found out his cousin, Andrew Giordano, whom I heard about briefly here and there over the years, went to Vietnam at 19. So we looked up his name in the book first, then, we got the information of where his name is located, we began our search from the beginning. I cannot tell you how I felt. The emotions at the time and writing about this now is emotional to say the least. We finally located Andrew's name sort of in the middle at the bottom.

My dad told me that Andrew was only 19 when he enlisted. Right out of High School. He said that's all Andrew wanted to do was fight for his country. Continuing on, my dad said while they were under siege in Quang Tin, a helicopter came to rescue them. While on the copter, going back to base, Andrew saw one of his friends down below running for the copter. Andrew jumped off and went after him. Unfortunately, both were killed under heavy fire. I don't know the name of Andrew's friend. I wish I did. This is all the information I have on Andrew. I think Andrew was an extremely brave person. It's sad that I never got to know him. When I was younger living in Brooklyn where most of my father's family lives, we spent a lot of time visiting them where my grandmother's sisters would visit a lot. One of them was Andrew's Mother. Nettie Giordano. They spoke of him once in a blue moon and very briefly. I would ask but never got any answers until we went to D.C. I'm glad to know more about my family's past and a little more about Andrew. Actually, I am honored that we had a hero in our family.~Tricia Gerbino, second cousin