Name: Jose Louis Vieras Panel/Line: 58E/17 Force: Army Company: B Rank: Corporal Pay Grade: E4 CAACF: |
Home of Record: San Jose, CA Birth Date: December 24, 1947 Race: Caucasian Gender: M Religion: Roman Catholic Married: N |
Death Date: May 10, 1968 Cause of Death: "ground casualty gun, small arms fire hostile"; wounds Died in Gia Dihn at age 20 The body was recovered. |
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Comment | [John Mott] 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. |
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Comment | [Lou Duran] 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. |
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Comment | My name is Luis Reyna from San Antonio Texas, a friend of Jose Vieras during our Advanced Infantry |
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