LCPL.
DENNIS GARY MERRYMAN
Born
on June 29, 1949
From SPARTA, MICHIGAN
Casualty was on Mar. 5, 1969
in QUANG NAM, SOUTH VIETNAM
HOSTILE, GROUND CASUALTY
GUN, SMALL ARMS FIRE
Panel
30W - - Line 48
Dennis
Gary Merryman
(picture courtesy of his brother, Paul Merryman)
LCpl.
Dennis Merryman served with the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines,
Mike Company. He was Killed In Action during Operation
TAYLOR COMMON, and awarded the Bronze Star, posthumously, on Sept
28, 2010. His name stands proudly on the Mike 3/5 Wall of Honor
alongside the Marines he fought and died with. Semper fi, Brother
Marine. We will never forget.
(Click
images to enlarge)
M/3/5
Marines, Dennis Merryman is on the left
(pictures courtesy
of Paul Merryman)
I
would like to hear from anyone who served with my brother, Dennis.
Semper Fi,
Paul Merryman, M Co. 3/9
Dennis
Merryman home on leave after Basic Training
Dennis
Merryman, M Co. 3/5
**********************************************
Dennis
Merryman awarded the Bronze Star, Memorial Day 2011
The
Merryman family gathered together with M Co. 3/5 Marines at the David
Johnston American Legion Post #283 to accept the Bronze Star Medal
for Dennis Merryman, 43 yrs. overdue. Grateful thanks to these M Co.
3/5 Marines and to the Merryman's for their tireless efforts to see
this award finally come through for Dennis.
Pictures
of the award ceremony sent in by Mike Alden
To the Merryman Family, I am most honored to have been
a part of securing the Bronze Star for your brother, Dennis.~Mike
Alden
1.
Presentation of the Bronze Star to Paul Merryman on behalf of his
brother L/Cpl. Dennis Merryman.
2. Paul O'Connell reading the Bronze Star citation for L/Cpl. Dennis
Merryman.
3. Janice, Marlene, Paul, and Kelly Merryman
4. Joy and Tom Mahlum, Candice Biddlecom (Paul Merryman's
granddaughter), Paul, Mike Alden, Fran (Paul's wife)
Dennis
Merryman's Bronze Star Citation
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One
of the finest Marines our company had
You
came up to me and asked for my bush hat. You said to me, "I need
one to go 'up there' with." I gave you my bush hat. I also told
you to bring it back to me. You uttered something to me and left.
I did not care about that bush hat. I wanted you to come back. You
went back to the point of contact, to recover Christianson. You went
above and beyond the call of duty in my mind, you knowing that recovering
Christianson from in front of an enemy bunker was high stakes. You
paid the highest price, Dennis. We Marines were speechless when the
word came down that we lost you . We couldn't believe it. Dennis,
you were one of the finest our company had. My words can not describe
the honor I have for you. You remain in my heart and thoughts forever.
I will never let go .....May God bless and comfort you forever. Respectfully,
Michael Alden
Pictures
of M Co. 3/5 Marines Dennis sent home from Vietnam before he was killed
********************************************************************
Letter
from Ed Browder written to Dennis Merryman's brother, Paul, May 2003
Paul,
Wow. Just seeing the name Merryman sent chills down my spine tonight.
Never having met your brother I cannot tell you too much about his
death or about him as a person or Marine, but I can never forget his
name nor Christianson nor Thompson who were also recovered with your
brother.
I
was a First Force Recon platoon commander at the time, and my platoon
just happened to be the ones who were able to get the bodies out.
It took a month to retrieve them because the times that we were sent
in prior, we were shot out of the LZ. The place was a hot spot...even
a month later, we were ambushed by a few NVA/VC types hanging out
in that bunker complex. Paul O'Connell was one of Tom Mahlum's Marines,
and was on Parker Pen Relay during Hill 332. If he did not know your
brother, I can guarantee you that he knows someone who did.
Five
of those troops retrieved the bodies off Hill 332. That is a very
young Ed Browder in the right rear with the "butter bar' on the
cover. Three troops from M Co. 3/5 went with us, Capt. Burns, CO;
Lankalais; and another whose name escapes me now.
The
chopper that took us to Hill 332 for the body recovery
My
troops and 3 of M Co's troops, including Capt. Burns on the ladder.
The first ladder insert in Marine Corps history. What I can tell you
about the recovery was even a month later, after Agent Orange was
dropped to defoliate the area and CS crystals were used to "flood"
the area with gas (we went in on a ladder insert...with gas masks
on), the bodies of all 3 were found about 5 feet apart, intact, no
mutilation (which surprised me at the time), and weapons there too
including an M-79 with a bag full of HE rounds. Now that really surprized
me.
I am sure that the other guys can give you the information that you
seek. I am glad that you found the M/3/5 site and will be able to
find out about your brother. This much I can tell you...if he was
in either Tom or Jim's platoon, he was led by 2 of the best!! I trusted
them with my life 35 years ago ...would do the same today. Ditto for
Paul O'Connell. I cannot say better of any man. The troops he served
with while young, were also the tops. Hell, we were all young. Good
luck. And let me know if I can help in any way. Semper Fidelis,
Ed Browder
M
Co. 3/5 Marines, 1969
Kneeling (L to R) Capt. Burns, Lt. Ted Lewis
Standing (L to R) Lt. Ed Browder, Lt. Jim Treadwell
******************************************************
Letter
written by Mike McFerrin to Dennis Merryman's brother, Paul Merryman,
former M/3/9 Marine, May 2003
Paul,
your brother volunteered, along with his platoon sergeant, to try
to get the body of a dead Marine back from in front of a fortified
enemy position up in the mountains (5th Marines operated out of the
combat base at An Hoa at the time, about 30 miles south of Danang).
I did not meet your brother until some few minutes before he went
out on the attempt.
Really
eerie looking at these photos of Dennis Merryman for the first time.
I probably only saw him six or seven times in brief flashes amongst
other unidentifiable Marines while I was there. That's what I remember
thinking when he walked up to Thompson and I while we were talking
just before their deaths. I also for some reason thought he was relatively
new in the bush, but he wasn't.But
I only had to look at these pictures for a couple of seconds before
his face and that final incident came together in my mind. That IS
the guy.
The
problem with the "good memory" that I have is that it is
not selective. I remember almost EVERYTHING when I remember. I remember
the frustration that I was feeling in trying to talk Thompson out
of this attempt, and then a bit of shock as I realized that Dennis
had also volunteered to go out there with him.
In
a few brief seconds after Merryman walked away, my feelings were mixed
since I wanted neither to go under the circumstances, but realized
that with both out there it might allow at least one of them to survive.
It was unclear as to exactly what was going to happen that day, but
it was the third straight day of round-the-clock combat up there and
my sixth sense was functioning very well. I KNEW that it was going
to be a bad day. I have attached my description of the circumstances
that was written for his platoon sergeant, Sgt. Leslie Thompson's
family~Mike Out
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