Sometimes the work we do with the story of Bravo Company, 1/26, resonates in unexpected places.

Recently, I received the text below from someone who lost a friend, a Marine named Wayne Moore, who served with Bravo at Khe Sanh. Wayne was killed in action—for which he was posthumously awarded a Silver Star for valor—on what has become known as the Payback Patrol of March 30, 1968.

Wayne Moore’s photo on the Vietnam Veterans Wall of Faces

Betty and I thought it worth sharing the message we received.

Hi,

I recently watched your documentary on the Battle of Khe Sanh and was amazed at what I had learned.

I knew one of the Marines mentioned several times that was KIA on 3/30/1968; his name was Wayne Moore. After 50 years I finally found out what had happened to the man that meant so much to myself and my family.

My Mom and Dad worked with Wayne in a furniture shop and were very impressed by him. So impressed we asked him to dinner a few times and then asked him to live with us in our home in Plymouth MA.

He dated my sister Linda and they were later married.

He was an extremely talented musician (played a Burns of London guitar) and played in a band as lead guitarist and vocalist. He was amazing.

Wayne Moore, center, playing his guitar,before joining the Marine Corps. His brother-in-law, John Hammer, is the drummer on the left. Photo courtesy of John Hammer.

I was a few years younger than him and he was like a big brother. He changed my life in ways that are still with me today, over 60 years later.

When he was KIA, my sister was devastated along with myself and parents. He was a figure larger than life and his death shocked us to our core.

I am the only remaining person of the people I mentioned and am now the only one that knows what happened on the day of his death in 1968.

I will be forever grateful to you and the fellow Marines that helped to make this project, especially Steve Wiese who seemed to know him the best.

If you could forward this to Steve so he can add these things to Wayne’s memory, I would truly appreciate it.

Steve Wiese. Photo courtesy of Betty Rodgers.

Again, thank you for your efforts to bring the enormity of the Battle of Khe Sanh to life. Hearing his name and how he was killed was something that means a great deal to me.

John Hammer

Sometimes I wish that we could move beyond the seemingly eternal nature of the story of Bravo Company at Khe Sanh, and put those long ago events behind me, but getting messages like Mr. Hammer’s makes the ongoing efforts worthwhile.

Here is a link to Wayne Moore’s page on the Wall of Faces: http://www.vvmf.org/Wall-of-Faces/34976/WAYNE-P-MOORE.

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On a separate subject, we wish to announce that Bravo Company’s Skipper, the late Lieutenant Colonel Ken Pipes, will be interred at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery in San Diego, California, on August 24, 2018 at 10:00 AM.

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BRAVO! is now available in digital form on Amazon Prime.

This link will take you directly to BRAVO!’s Amazon Prime site where you can take a look at the options for streaming: In the US you can stream at https://amzn.to/2Hzf6In.

In the United Kingdom, you can stream at https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07BZKJXBM.

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If you or your organization would like to host a screening of BRAVO! in your town, please contact us immediately.

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DVDs of BRAVO! are available. Please consider gifting copies to a veteran, a teacher, a history buff, a library, a friend or family member. For more information, go to https://bravotheproject.com/store/.

BRAVO! has a page on Facebook. Please “like” us and “share” the page at https://www.facebook.com/Bravotheproject?ref=hl.

One of the more gratifying experiences we’ve enjoyed with our BRAVO! encounters is the recognition that is coming to so many of the men who served with Bravo Company, 1/26, during the outfit’s time in Vietnam. On September 28, 2014, Vincent Mottola was honored in his hometown of Medford, Massachusetts.

Unlike a lot of other wars in which United States armed forces have been involved, the honors and remembrances due the men and women who served in Vietnam have been slow to come.

Regardless of how one feels about the morality or efficacy of our efforts in that war, the men and women who fought and died there, not to mention those who have returned, were not responsible for our government’s choice of wars. They were called to serve and they did, some giving the ultimate sacrifice for, in most cases, something they thought was worth doing.

Honoring Vincent Mottola. Photo Courtesy of Marie Chalmers

So we are very happy to crow about the honors that are coming now to the men of Bravo who gave up their youth, their naiveté, and in many cases their lives for something they thought was of value.

Below are some photos taken and sent to us by Vincent Mottola’s cousin, the vibrant Boston native, Marie Chalmers. These photos are of the ceremony conducted in Medford, Massachusetts, where Vinnie Mottola was memorialized by having a street corner named in his honor.

Vinnie is one of the veterans to whom BRAVO! is dedicated, thanks to the generosity of the Mottola family. He was killed in action at Khe Sanh Combat Base on February 23, 1968. You can find out more about Vinnie here.

Below are some photos of the event in Medford. Photos courtesy of Marie Chalmers.

This first photo is of the street sign for the newly named corner.

Vincent A Mottola Square

The second photo in this three-photo series is of Medford Mayor Michael McGlynn and the Marine Corps color guard.

The last is a photo of Vincent Mottola’s family who joined together at the naming of Vincent A Mottola Square.

Ooorah and Semper Fidelis, Vincent Mottola!

We look forward to upcoming screenings at the Meridian Library in Meridian, Idaho, on October 22; Oceanside, CA, on November 1; and Newport Beach, CA, on November 15, 2014. Please join us and invite your friends.

If you would like to host a screening of BRAVO! in your town this winter or spring, please contact us immediately.
DVDs of BRAVO! are available. For more information, go to https://bravotheproject.com/buy-the-dvd/.

BRAVO! has a page on Facebook. Please “like” us and “share” the page at https://www.facebook.com/Bravotheproject/. It’s another way to stay up on our news and help us reach more people.

We are proud to announce an upcoming event in Medford, Massachusetts to honor Vincent Mottola, a Bravo Company Marine who was killed in action at Khe Sanh on February 23, 1968.

Vincent, or Vinnie as his family calls him, had an MOS # of 0351, Antitank Assault Man. We Khe Sanh Marines would have referred to Vinnie as being in Rockets.

Vinnie is being honored in Medford next Sunday, 9/28/2014, at 10:00 at Zero Medford Street. Please consider attending this memorial celebration if you can.

Vincent Mottola

You can find out more about Vinnie Mottola at the Virtual Wall: http://www.virtualwall.org/dm/MottolaVA01a.htm.

In separate news, BRAVO! COMMON MEN, UNCOMMON VALOR, will be screened tomorrow night in Nampa, Idaho, at Elks Lodge #1389, 1116 1st Street. Doors open at 6:00 PM with the screening beginning at 6:30 PM. There will be a $10.00 donation to benefit the Wyakin Warriors Foundation which assists wounded veterans with education and career training. You can find out more about the Wyakin Warrior Foundation at http://www.wyakin.org/. There will be refreshments and a no-host bar and a question and answer session following the film moderated by noted author Alan Heathcock. You will be able to ask questions of
veterans of the Middle East conflicts and veterans of the Vietnam War including men you will meet in the film BRAVO!

Alan Heathcock
Photo by Mathew Wordell

On November 11, 2014, the Liberty Lake, Washington Fallen Heroes Circuit Course will be screening BRAVO! in conjunction with the honoring of Bravo Company Marine Greg Vercruysse, a Navy Corpsman who was killed in action north of Hill 881 South on June 7, 1967. The screening will take place in Liberty Lake’ s Meadowwood Technology Center. See more about the Liberty Lake Fallen Heroes Circuit Course at http://www.llfhcc.org/. You can find out more about Greg Vercruysse at the Virtual Wall: http://www.virtualwall.org/dv/VercruysseGP01a.htm.

Image from the Traveling Wall

More details to follow on the event in Liberty Lake as well as upcoming screenings in Oceanside, California, on 11/1/2014 and Newport Beach, California, on 11/15/2014.

If you would like to host a screening of BRAVO! in your town this winter or spring, please contact us immediately.
DVDs of BRAVO! are available. For more information, go to https://bravotheproject.com/buy-the-dvd/.

BRAVO! has a page on Facebook. Please “like” us and “share” the page at https://www.facebook.com/Bravotheproject/. It’s another way to stay up on our news and help us reach more people.

Last Saturday afternoon Betty and I screened BRAVO! at the West Roxbury, Massachusetts, VA. The VA is located in a beautiful suburb of Boston and sits among streets lined with stately trees and green-lawned parks.

The screening was hosted and arranged by Marie Mottola Chalmers whose cousin, Vincent Mottola, was killed in action on February 23, 1968. Vincent Mottola was a Marine with Bravo Company. A large number of Vincent’s family, including his brother, William, and numerous cousins attended.

Also on hand were relatives of Mike McCauley, another Bravo Marine who is in the film. Mike’s two brothers, Larry and Jim, his sister Claire, in-laws and close friends attended the screening.

BRAVO! supporter Mark Cahill (and his son Dillon who is a student in the Boston area),a good friend of Bravo Company Skipper Ken Pipes attended the screening all the way from Southern California.

As in all our screenings so far, the overwhelming response to the film was deeply gratifying to Betty and I. Some of the folks with relatives in Bravo Company, 1/26 who came to see the film had no idea about the savage grind, the vicious nature of the Siege of Khe Sanh. Their emotional response to the film was moving.

The Boston screening had several special moments that made it unique among our showings. Young Mr. Benjamin Hoffman opened the afternoon with a stirring a cappella rendition of the National Anthem. Closing out the evening, a detachment of United States Marines from the First Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment stationed at Fort Devens, Massachusetts, posted the colors and lead the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance.

A big OOORAH!is due Marie Chalmers and the Mottola family, Ms. Diane Keith of the West Roxbury VA, Benjamin Hoffman, Mark Cahill, the MacCauleys and the color guard of the First Battalion, 25th Marines for their initiative and support.

In associated news, if you missed the blog post about our Washington, DC, screening of BRAVO! to 130-plus viewers, you can check it out here.

In addition, one of the folks who attended the screening was short story author, Siobhan Fallon, whose book of short stories, You Know When the Men Are Gone, (G. P. Putnam’s Sons) is a wrenching and realistic look at war’s effects on the warriors’ loved ones. Siobhan blogged about her impressions of BRAVO! You can read Siobhan Fallon’s blog here.

Here is updated information about upcoming screenings of BRAVO! COMMON MEN, UNCOMMON VALOR.

Friday, August 31, 2012

Sheraton Pentagon City Hotel
900 S. Orme Street
Arlington, VA
Room: Cavalier A & B
Time: 1:00 PM

Saturday, September 8, 2012

West Roxbury Division Veterans Affairs
1400 VFW Parkway
West Roxbury, MA
Time: 3:00 PM

Room locations may be subject to change in which case we will provide further updates.

Please contact us at 208-340-8889 or ken@bravotheproject.com for more information.

Our minds have a way of bringing us back in time. When I stand at my cousin Vinnie’s grave on the Vietnam Memorial lawn at Oak Grove cemetery in Medford, MA, I am a young woman again of 21. A flag is presented, Taps are played, gun salutes go off. It all comes back to me.

PFC Vincent Antonio Mottola was 18 years old when he was killed at Khe Sanh on February 23, 1968, leaving behind his mother, father, two brothers and many cousins, aunts and uncles who loved him.

As one of the men from Bravo described Vinnie, he was funny, irreverent (definitely), and carried his own weight.

Vinnie Mottola

By this past January I was in contact with Ken Rodgers, Bill Jayne and others who remembered Vinnie. Bill Jayne remembered the day Vinnie was killed. To be able to speak to other Marines who knew Vinnie after 44 years was surreal. They were able to answer our questions about how he was killed. The muses online gave me the opportunity to get to know these fine men and learn about the siege at Khe Sanh from the Marine point of view.

Come the end of August I hope to join these gallant Marines in D.C. for the Khe Sanh Veterans reunion, listen to their stories and see a preview of the documentary. There are plans for a Boston showing on Saturday, September 8, 2012 at 3pm at the West Roxbury VA hospital facility if anyone is interested. We also would like to hear from anyone else who might remember Vinnie.

Marie Chalmers: Mchalm1044@aol.com.