1st Platoon Kilo 3/9/3 On March 15, 1968, Kilo Company was sitting on a hilltop northwest of Ca Lu at XD 977489. We were providing security for Company A, 11th Engineering Battalion and Naval Seebees who were moving in to construct LZ Stud at XD998480. First platoon, under the leadership of 2nd Lt. M. Holladay, wasrunning a patrol on an adjacent hill side north of this location.
Third platoon was moving westward and started to take small arms fire at approximately 1300 hours. Mortars (4.2 in) were called in from Ca Lu to the suspected NVA position but fell short wounding several Marines in Third platoon. (how Walsh was killed by friendly fire)
First Platoon saw retreating NVA and requested permission to fire a LAW. The LAW was fired but did not explode on impact. We then fired the M60 and M16 as the NVA disappeared into the elephant grass with unknown results.They were more than 300 meters away making for a poor target. Pfc. Walsh was stabilized but later died that evening as a result of his wounds in Dong Ha. Pfc. Walsh was n Valentine Ridge just a month before this. He writes in letter home to his mother " We went out in the field at 0300 hours on Feb 13. It's been a long couple days. We made heavy contact yesterday morning which cost a lot of men. I've finally learned that terrible feeling when you loose a buddy. Yesterday, a guy I came all the way from boot camp with was killed. It wasn't the first time I saw somebody I knew die but it was the first time for a friend..." One month later Walsh would be dead himself.
A happy-go-lucky boy
Posted on 12/31/01 - by Robert Greer
Charles S. WalshRidge Avenue, Roxborough
Seven months before he was to graduate from Roxborough High School, Walsh and several buddies enlisted in the Marines. The 19-year-old private first class stopped home briefly before shipping out to Vietnam in December 1967 and joining Company K of the 3rd Battalion, 9th Marines, 3rd Marine Division."He was a happy-go-lucky boy," his mother recalled, "but he matured quickly in just a short time in the war." Walsh, a team leader, was killed in Quang Tn Province on March 15, 1968. He also was survived by three sisters.
.... from The Philadelphia Daily News
My Brother PFC Charles S. Walsh Posted on 3/10/02 - by Mary Jane Gerity
Dear Cholly,We think of you every day. Many years have come and gone. You are still loved and missed so very much. Mom cried all the time. You remember how much she missed Daddy? Well it was worse with you. I miss her too, but I'm glad she's with you and Daddy now. It is difficult to believe that you have been dead for more years than you lived. I wish that you would have taken advantage of the fact that you didn't have to go in the service. They never would have forced you. Many of the guys who were drafted wished that they had the option to stay home like you. I'm sorry for being angry with you because you left us. I just missed you so and I was too young to understand. I still don't understand but I'm not mad at you anymore. Just miss you still.You would be proud of your nephew and name sake, my son. I've been lucky. I have four wonderful children. When it rains really hard, I think of how it must have been for you in the jungle. There are many Vietnamese families living in America now. I am proud that you tried to help them even though you had every opportunity to stay home where it was comfortably warm and dry.I spoke to Lynda's mom a few years ago. Eventually she got married and has two daughters. I cried thinking that her babies could have been my nieces and your daughters. Lynda's mom told me good things about you. She told me how you tried to help some poor homeless man in a blizzard. I think she said you took him to the police station.I was sorry to learn that the letters and cookies we sent to you were lost in an ambush. Jimmy Kelly, "Mac" and the men from Kilo 3/9/3 send their regards.The words of the hymn say "the streets are guarded by United States Marines" and I guess you wear your dress blues. Which reminds me, if and when I get there.......I expect a contingent of Marines as my escort and dress blues are requested please.Love always,Mary Jane -
Charles Walsh and Mary Jane Walsh Gerity are the children of Regina Cafferty Walsh. Regina was a daughter of Bernard and Mary Boland Cafferty.
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