Survivors include his mother & stepfather, Mr.& Mrs. Lee Fitzpatrick; 2 sisters, Mrs. Sallee Maurer, Nancy Sipp, & 2 brothers Neil & Leland, also surviving are 2 step-sisters Judi Spence, & Marsha Willison, & his maternal grandfather, Carl Keeler. At about 3:30 p.m.
Tuesday, a bugler sounded taps for the last time,& sounds of gunfire seemed to echo out, " Well done, good and faithful servant, well done.
RUSNELL, DANIEL J. P.F.C. U.S.M.C., VESTABURG, S.S.# 371-50-3698,B. 18 Feb. 1946, D. 24 Sept. 1966 ,Quang Tri, S. Vietnam,
Multiple Fragmentation Wounds
His name is listed on Panel 11E line 10 of the Vietnam War Memorial" The Wall" K.I.A.
WESTBROOK, THEODORE, E. P.F.C.,U.S.M.C., B. 08 Jan. 1947, D. 17 July, 1967, Quang Tri, S. Vietnam, K.I.A.
Buried Reynolds Twp. Cemetery, Howard City, Mich. His name is listed on Panel 23E Line 84 of the Vietnam War Memorial
WILLIAMS, GERALD S., P.F.C.,U.S.M.C. Enlisted ,GREENVILLE, B. 23 March, 1949, D. 30 Apr. 1968,in Quang Tri, S. Vietnam, K.I.A.
Buried Rest Haven Memory Gardens, Belding, Mich. Tour of Duty began 24 Oct. 1967. His name is listed on Panel 53E Line 26 at
The Vietnam War Memorial, in Washington, D.C.
*News Article from the Greenville Daily News.
The War has brought tragedy to another Greenville family. Pvt. Gerald S. Williams,19, died as a result of being struck by fragments of a Mortar Shell in N. Vietnam on Apr. 30th.
His mother Mrs. Shannon O’Kief, Macomber St. was notified of Gerald’s death by a delegation of the U.S. Marines. They broke the news to her at the Lincoln Heights School, where Mrs. O’ Kief teaches third & fourth grade. Her husband manages the Waters shoe store in Greenville.
Pvt. Williams is the 7th young man from the Greenville- Belding -Montcalm area to lose his life in Vietnam. "I don’t know why were are sending our boys to die there." O’Kief said.
Gerald’s brother, Glen has already served a year in Vietnam & is completing his military duty at Camp Roberts in California. He is in the U.S. Army. Gerald wrote regularly & we had a letter from him on April 28th.,said O’Kief . He sent pictures, some film to be developed & money he wanted put in his savings account. Pvt. Williams has been in Vietnam since Oct.23rd .He enlisted May 21st 1967 while a senior in
High School. His interests included wrestling & fishing. He liked people, the parents recall. His military service in Vietnam included a lengthy
Period under constant shelling on the Rock Pile five miles from besieged Khe Sanh. He sustained loss of weight during his period of service &
Was given a rest period that started March 22, his birthday,. Services were held at Brown-Teman Funeral Home, as flags flew half mast.
Burial was in Rest Haven Memory Gardens. The Rev. Fred Houston, pastor of Grace Lutheran Church,in Howell,the church Pvt. Williams Attended before moving to Greenville, said the world mourns the loss of American youth in foreign countries fighting for people they have so often never heard of except in passing. We can be proud, however he continued ,that Gerry has joined a host of young men & women who has laid down their lives in defense of America on the battlefields of blood. At Rest Haven Memory Gardens a Marine Honor Guard carried his casket to the grave & then fired a salute to their falling comrade . At the conclusion of the graveside ceremony the soft sound of Taps drifted with a light breeze across a blue sky & settled on a green turf. It reminded everyone that it was for the preservation of soft sounds, blue skies & green grass that Pvt. Williams made the supreme sacrifice amid loud blasts, smoke-filled skies & mud filled trenches.
