Thirty nine years ago this month, 21 young Orange County residents died in Southeast Asia. They'd answered our government's call to join the U.S. military, travel to the other side of the planet and defend South Vietnam from Communist North Vietnam. We can debate the merits of the war, but not the honor and bravery of these men:
Barry William Van Horn, Los Alamitos, killed at Phuoc Long on May 1, 1968, at the age of 21.
Paul Leonard Abraham, Santa Ana, killed at Bien Hoa on May 2, 1968, at the age of 21.
Steven Allen Sommers, Buena Park, killed at Gia Dinh on May 9, 1968, at the age of 20.
William John Waysack, Orange, killed at Quang Tri on May 9, 1968, at the age of 20.
Joseph Francis Catt, Huntington Beach, killed at Binh Duong on May 9, 1968, at the age of 21.
Edward Andrew Gillaspy, La Habra, killed at Quang Tri on May 9, 1968, at the age of 18.
Barry Lee Hempel, Garden Grove, killed at Quang Tin on May 10, 1968, at the age of 20.
Patrick Leland Finley, Huntington Beach, killed at Kontum on May 10, 1968, at the age of 21.
Tommy Wayne Johnston, Bellflower, killed at Hua Nghia on May 11, 1968, at the age of 22.
Samuel K. Culbertson, Huntington Beach, killed Hua Nghia on May 11, 1968, at the age of 21.
Frank Joseph Makuh, Placentia, killed at Tay Ninh on May 13, 1968, at the age of 21.
Robert Wilks West, Huntington Beach, killed at Gia Dinh on May 15, 1968, at the age of 23.
John R. Oglesby, Tustin, killed at Hua Nghia on May 15, 1968, at the age of 20.
Jerry Dean Wright, Garden Grove, killed at Dinh Tuong on May 22, 1968, at the age of 23.
Russell Udell West, Orange, killed at Quang Tri on May 23, 1968, at the age of 18.
David Eugene Watkins, Los Alamitos, killed at Kontum on May 25, 1968, at the age of 20.
Ronald Curtis McEuen, Garden Grove, killed at Quang Tin on May 25, 1968, at the age of 24.
James Patrick Crawford, Fullerton, killed at Quang Tri on May 26, 1968, at the age of 20.
John Richard Lindel, Garden Grove, killed at Kontum on May 27, 1968, at the age of 21.
Steven Dewill Baker, Santa Ana, killed Quang Tri on May 28, 1968, at the age of 22.
Roddney Allen Roddam, Anaheim, killed at Thua Thien on May 29, 1968, at the age of 19.
CNN-featured investigative reporter R. Scott Moxley has won Journalist of the Year honors at the Los Angeles Press Club; been named Distinguished Journalist of the Year by the LA Society of Professional Journalists; obtained one of the last exclusive prison interviews with Charles Manson disciple Susan Atkins; won inclusion in Jeffrey Toobin’s The Best American Crime Reporting for his coverage of a white supremacist’s senseless murder of a beloved Vietnamese refugee; launched multi-year probes that resulted in the FBI arrests and convictions of the top three ranking members of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department; and gained praise from New York Times Magazine writers for his “herculean job” exposing entrenched Southern California law enforcement corruption.