Vietnam War: Bruce Eamick at FSB Washington
August 9, 2011
Posted in 22nd Infantry, 25th Infantry Division, Bruce Eamick, Everytown USA, Vietnam War
Tags: 22nd Infantry, 25th Infantry Division, Bruce Eamick, Everytown USA, Vietnam War
Even amid war, tragedy strikes us off guard. All were shocked at the recent loss of 30 American military personnel, when their Chinook chopper went down over Afghanistan.
They say time heals the pain. But for family members, the loss of a loved one in war never really goes away.
Infantryman Bruce Eamick served in the Vietnam War with Company B, 3rd Battalion, 22nd Infantry, 25th Infantry Division. His group worked the volatile Central Highland jungles along the Cambodian border.
Bruce and Nancy Eamick - December 8, 1967
On August 8, 1969, tragedy struck Eamick at FSB Washington. “The Army guys went to my Mom and Dad’s first because that’s where I lived at the time,” Bruce’s wife, Nancy said, with tears in her eyes. “Mom told them, ‘No, she’s not here. She’s at work.’ But then, Mom came with them over to the shop. Bruce’s Mom and Dad and I all worked there. …It was break time and I was busy writing my love letters to him. Then they called us all downstairs and as soon as I saw them, I knew. …You just never thought it would happen.”
Eamick’s parents summoned his sister, Becky, from her job. “I worked at the telephone company in Warsaw as an operator,” she shared. “My supervisor called me in the office and said, ‘Susie Walker is downstairs to take you to your mom and dad’s. Your dad called her and you need to go home.’
“I immediately thought, oh no, something’s happened to Bruce! …I was living out on my own then and had a car, but they didn’t want me to drive. They knew I wouldn’t handle it well, and I didn’t. …All the way there, I kept asking, ‘Susie, did Bruce get killed?’ But she couldn’t tell me because Dad had asked her not to. …When I got there, I knew. I just totally lost it!”
Bruce Eamick - Company B, 22nd Infantry
Bravo Company CO, Captain Larry B. Thomas detailed the misfortune in a letter to Eamick’s parents. “Bruce was digging a fighting position on the perimeter at a fire support base when an unknown type of explosive was detonated. Your son sustained multiple fragmentation wounds to his head from the explosion, and died instantly. I hope you will find consolation in knowing that he was spared prolonged suffering.”
“I … remember the afternoon he died,” platoon mate, Dee Anderson of Houston, Texas recalled. “Doc … and I were sitting at the table outside the platoon command bunker when we heard an explosion, but didn’t think much about it as we were near the artillery area of Fire Support Base Washington. …He (Eamick) had been digging a new fighting position and hit an unexploded something. I never knew what it was, either it was a grenade that had gotten buried in the berm line or maybe it was a mortar round or something else from when FSB Washington was hit with a ground attack about two months earlier. …What has always stuck in my mind is he was trying to build a better fighting position to help him survive, and got killed doing it. What a waste.”
When Eamick’s remains arrived home, his casket stayed closed, only fueling loved ones’ false hopes. “They told us he was killed, but we never got to see his body,” Becky said. “When they were bringing those planeloads of POWs back, I can remember sitting there, glued to the TV, just knowing Bruce was going to walk off one of those planes. I just knew it! But, he never did.”
“That was so hard,” Nancy said, weeping. “In a way, I wanted to see him, just so I knew for sure. …It still feels like he just went away and never came back. …You know how things got screwed up over there. We were all thinking maybe they got the wrong guy and he’s still alive. I guess we’ve been thinking it all these years.”
Read Bruce Eamick’s full story and those of 70 other combat veterans, from the American Revolution to the War in Iraq, in Michael McCoy’s latest release, EVERYTOWN, USA.
I remember when the blast went off. We had no idea what had happended just that it had to be bad. When they brought him by use on the way to the medics was when we fully knew what had happened. I was assigned to the 65th Engineers and was working with the Regulars out of the FSB as a demo man. I was asked to look at the blast sight to determine what could have caused the blast. My best guess was it had been a grenade and while digging the pin had been pulled setting the grenade off. Until seeing this site today I had almost forgotten about that day.
Jim,
Great to hear from you. Thank you for your insight, and for your service to our country. Bruce will never be forgotten.
I was at fsb Washington 1/27 artillery
Hi John,
Great to hear from you, and thank you for your service. When did you serve at FSB Washington? We’re always interested in learning more here. What do you remember about FSB Washington?
I was at FSB Washington from Jan 70 until May when our unit 1/27 arty went on the Cambodian incursion. I believe we left there with the 2/22 going into Cambodia. We fired all the time on The Black Virgin Mountain. Prior to Washington we were at Illingsworth. I left country from Cambodia. I was chief of section 155sp June 69 -70.
Hi John and Mike, I was crew on gun 1 C/1/27th FA 3/69 to 3/70 Just missed Cambodia and went home /Ft Sill. Been back in California all these yrs. Regards, michael
My name is Jim Knott I was standing less than 20 ft from Bruce when the frag went off. Bill McClure, Bruce and I shared the same bunker. I remember the day well; as most often it was sunny and hot, it was close to chow. Bruce wanted to get started on a new fighting position. Because we were to be at FSB Washington for sometime Bill and I told him to wait till the following day and we would pitch in. He grabbed his trenching shovel anyway and began to dig. I can remember Bill and I poking fun at him as he dug. About this time we heard a ‘pop’ the distinctive sound a frag makes when the pin is pulled and the hammer strikes the fuse surrounding the blasting cap, he most of hit it with his shovel. I looked over at Bruce, his back turned to us and saw him bend over, perhaps to grab the frag and toss it over the dirt mound. Bruce died that day and I remember him well.
Hi Jim,
Thanks for sharing your firsthand account of that truly tragic day. Your memories sound similar to what Bruce’s family had always heard, but I think that they will find it comforting, coming from an eyewitness. My hope is that it will bring them further closure. Thank you for your service.
My name is Matt Flikkema, I served with Bravo Co from Sept of 68 to Aug of 69 and spent time at Fire Base Washington at least two times, maybe three. I have pictures of our bunkers and the artillery that was there with us. Bruce was not in my platoon so I didn’t know him personally, at the time of his death I was NCOIC of the rear area and as such was in charge of the rear area for the company first sergeant. One of my duties was to visit the hospital when casualties came in and so walked into the room they had him in but of course he was gone by that time. Tragic loss, one of the memories I have of my time in Viet Nam.