HN THOMAS EDWARD WELKER His tour began on Aug. 25, 1968 Casualty was on Sept. 11, 1968 In QUANG NAM, SOUTH VIETNAM HOSTILE, GROUND CASUALTY GUN, SMALL ARMS FIRE Panel 44W - Line 33 Thomas Edward Welker "Doc" Thomas Edward Welker served with the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, H&S Company. He was Killed In Action during Operation MAMELUKE THRUST. On Sept. 11th lead elements of M Co. 3/5, 2nd platoon were crossing through a rice paddy when they were ambushed by N.V.A. regulars, causing the lead elements to be K.I.A. Most Marines from 1st squad went into the kill zone under heavy enemy fire to recover the wounded and dead. Pfc. James Hoyez saw that HN Thomas Welker had stopped breathing while helping a wounded Marine and tried to resuscitate him. James Hoyez was killed, and awarded the Silver Star, posthumously, for his selfless actions trying to save Corpsman Edward Welker and their fellow Marines. Semper Fi, Doc Welker, we will never forget. (See also PFC James Hoyez Memorial page)   M Co. 3/5 Marines Killed In Action September 11, 1968 LCPL Jerry Don Copeland Memorial page PFC Richard Gale Daniels Memorial page PFC James Hoyez Memorial page PFC Armando Lopez Memorial page PFC Phillip Edward Slaughter Memorial page CPL Douglas Mark Smith Memorial page PFC Thomas William Steele Memorial page HN Thomas Edward Welker (corpsman) Memorial page PFC Owen White, Jr. Memorial page *********************************************** (Background and FMF Corpsman Memorial graphic by Redeye) (3/5 Corpsman graphic by Vic Vilionis, 7th Marines)