Meet the Men of Bravo!–Mike McCauley
As a youngster, Mike McCauley was hanging around the Boston Common when Boston Police Sergeant Haynes advised him to join the military. Mike took his advice and enlisted in the Marine Corps when he was nineteen.
Mike McCauley
Mike arrived at the Khe Sanh area in November 1967 when Bravo Company was into its second deployment on Hill 881 South, west of the Khe Sanh combat base. He served with First Platoon, Bravo Company, during his time in Vietnam.
He turned twenty the day the Siege of Khe Sanh ended on April 7, 1968. After his tour he returned to the States and over the years spent time in Massachusetts, Washington, DC, Maryland, Nevada and California before settling with his wife Ruth in the Seattle, Washington, region.
Mike McCauley
Mike spends his time doing woodworking and taking care of the family’s horses. When asked if he rides the horses, he says, “I’ve never ridden anything but a subway; I’m from Boston.”
Among other things, Mike is known among the men of Bravo for giving out sharp looking red (Marine Corps red) ball caps that say “Bravo Co. 1/26, Khe Sanh,” in snappy gold thread.
Hey, Mike: You and I were in Platoon 182 at Parris Island together. I was a house mouse, and I remember you quite well. There are pictures of us together in the 1967 yearbook. Remember Gunny Fred Blackwood, SSgt Sells, and Sgt Schnitzius?
Love you Uncle Mike!
We love your Uncle Mike, too.
Uncle Mike was one of the coolest Uncles you could have. He was fun, loving, giving, and ALWAYS cracking jokes or pranking someone. When my sister fell ill, he and my Auntie Ruth helped and step in; this is when I learned how to fold clothes, Marine standard…. I still get compliments today, on how I fold clothes :) How I will always remeber my uncle, is cracking a one liner joke or making a pun that had the room explode with laughter, but a man you could talk too, and give the simplest advise, which solved all your problems, bc let’s face it, MY problems can not even COMPARE to what he went through. Watching BRAVO!, gave me and my family another notch in how proud we are of him, thank you for honoring him. He loved his family and loved his country, and served both with the greatest honor!
Diana, how nice to hear from you, and to read your beautiful remembrance. You described your uncle exactly the way we remember him, too. We still miss him so much. Would it be ok if we post your remarks on our Facebook page? We would love to share your words with more people. Fondly, Betty Rodgers