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
Almost 44 years later, my nephew Jimmy was watching a documentary about the siege at Khe Sanh. It sparked a desire to find out more about Vinnie. He had never known Vinnie. My nephew was born 3 years after Vinnie died. This is how my nephew Jimmy found out about “Bravo! Common Men, Uncommon Valor.”
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.
On February 23, 1968, Khe Sanh combat base took 1307 incoming rounds, evidently breaking a record for single-day incoming in Vietnam. Around 4:15 in the afternoon, Khe Sanh Siege time, a particular round slammed into Gray Sector, Bravo Company’s sector on the line. The round blasted a 106 MM recoilless rifle bunker and four Marines inside that bunker were killed in action.
I remember that day, both for the number of rounds and for the destruction of the 106 bunker. The bunker wasn’t too far from our platoon’s (Second Platoon) area of responsibility. I recall several Marines from our squad (Third Squad) went down and tried to assist the men of that stricken bunker.
One of the men killed, I believe, in that particular incident at the 106 bunker on February 23 was Bravo Company Marine, Vincent Antonio Mottola. I am in contact with Vincent (Vinnie as his family called him) Mottola’s cousin, Marie Chalmers. Marie has asked me to put the word out that anyone who remembers or knew Vinnie, please contact her at 617-327-4587 or via e-mail at mchalm1044@aol.com.
Our memories of youth and family die hard. I will rephrase that. Sometimes our memories refuse to die. It is often important for us to keep our memories flowing, intact, relevant. If you knew Vinnie Mottola or anything about his time in Vietnam, please contact Marie Chalmers.
