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Hello.

My name is John Mott, a friend of recently departed B Company, 6/31st troop named Lance Bergstreser. Lance was in country later than I was but we shared alot of things in common. He was with Jose Vieras and Rich Kosar the day they were ambushed/killed near Gia Dinh. Lance passed away about three months ago from complications as a result of heart surgery. He was very proud of his service and further very proud to be part of the Polar Bears. He provided information to a Keith Nolan who is writing a book about the Mini Tet in later '68 after the major offensive.

Thank you for your entry in the Vietnam Memorial Wall Web Page.

Sincerely,

John Mott

P. S. I was not in the 6/31st, just a friend of Lance's passing on information.

My name is Lou Duran. I was the medic assigned to the 6th/31st Bravo Co. 2nd. plt. I was one of the originals that came out of Ft. Lewis, Wash. I knew most of the guys. I was and am proud to have served with the guys from the 6/31 B co. They were a bunch of disciplined and hard hitting troopers.

My job was hard, but these guys made it easier for me by kicking butt.

I was present when we lost Jose. We were in a small reservoir trying to get through a wire fence when all hell broke loose. we layed down along the berm of the reservoir that had very little water in it for cover from the small arms fire. We were returning fire when Jose yelled if anyone had a cleaning rod? Perez, who was next to me asked if I had a cleaning rod for Jose. I turned to Jose and asked him why? (I knew that he was a grenadier and in no need of a cleaning rod.) Jose pointed to the trooper behind him, his M-16 had jammed (as many were). I pulled the cleaning rod from M-16 and tossed it to him, and just about that time we received a volley of a AK-47 rounds from the enemy. When I looked up I saw that Jose was hit. He was nice person. He was always talking about getting back home to San Jose, Ca. and getting married to his girlfriend. I was sorry to hear about Bergstreser, nice quiet guy with a friendly smile. How did I know most of these guys? I was their medic. Bravo co. 6th/31st. 2nd. Plt.

My name is Luis Reyna from San Antonio Texas, a friend of Jose Vieras during our Advanced Infantry
 Training (AIT) in Fort Lewis Washington.  We departed to Vietnam in March 1968 and we were assigned
 to Bravo company in different platoons.  I remember being in the first major encounter with the VC when
 he was KIA in May 1968, since we were in different platoons I found out until the next day.  I was very
 sad for several days but the encounter with the enemy lasted several days, we lost several soldiers and
 quit a few severely wounded.  In my squad most of us got hit with sharpen metal.  

Jose Vieras I am very proud of you for your great courage, heroism and the ultimate sacrifice you gave
 for this country and for all of us.  I will always remember your smile when we used write letters home 
during AIT in Fort Lewis. 

Gracias Brother for the time we spent together.  

Luis Reyna Sergeant E-5 Bravo Company