GREENFIELD — The phrase “good kid” came up often from those who knew Michael Terry gathered at a remembrance ceremony for the McCordsville man and fallen Marine.
He wasn’t much older than a kid the last time they saw him, before he left the basketball courts and baseball diamonds of Hancock County for heavily contested area of war-torn Vietnam.
The 20-year-old Marine private first class was on patrol in Quang Nam province, in northern South Vietnam, 50 years ago this month when someone tripped a booby trap, triggering a buried 105-millimeter artillery round. The blast wounded Terry and another Marine, and they were evacuated to a military hospital in Da Nang. On Oct. 12, 1969, Terry succumbed to his wounds.
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A half-century later, those who knew Terry, veterans and others gathered at the Hancock County Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Greenfield to pay their respects to his sacrifice while remembering the athletic boy whom several described as an all-around good guy. The short memorial ceremony was part of a continuing series of events by local veterans groups to commemorate the 50th anniversaries of the deaths of Hancock County residents in Vietnam. Eleven were killed; one is still missing.
More than 58,000 American men and women were killed during during the war.
Terry was born on July 25, 1949, in Oneida, Tennessee to Mitchell and Wanda Terry. The family later moved to McCordsville, and Terry graduated from Mt. Vernon High School in 1968. He enlisted in the Marine Corps in February 1969 in Indianapolis. After completing basic training as a 0311 rifleman, the private first class arrived in Vietnam in July 1969 assigned to Company C, 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, III Marine Amphibious Force.
Terry’s unit provided security for Liberty Bridge over the Song Thu Bon River, northeast of An Hoa Combat Base. The sector was near an enemy base camp area with dense foliage, covered in booby traps and teeming with Viet Cong and North Vietnamese troops. It was nicknamed “The Arizona Territory” because it reminded the Marines of the Wild West.
Terry’s company went on search-and-destroy operations near Liberty Bridge looking for enemy forces, weapons and materials and provided security for South Vietnamese troops.
On Oct. 1 through 6, 1969, Terry and his fellow Marines conducted operations at two villages under Viet Cong/North Vietnamese control. On Oct. 6, a patrol Terry was on was northeast of An Hoa Combat Base. Then, the booby trap went off. He was buried on Oct. 28, 1969, at Washington Park East Cemetery in Indianapolis.
The Greenfield-based Dale E. Kuhn American Legion Post 119, VFW Post 2693 and Greenfield Veterans Honor Guard conducted the remembrance ceremony on the 50th anniversary of Terry’s death at the Hancock County Vietnam Veterans Memorial at State Road 9 and Davis Road in Greenfield.
Kurt Vetters, communications officer for the local American Legion post, led the ceremony and talked about Terry’s life and service.
“Michael served with warriors,” Vetters said, adding his unit was awarded a presidential unit citation shortly before he arrived.
Vetters said on the day Terry died, back home, the United States was rife with rumors concerning Paul McCartney’s death after a DJ played a Beatles record backward.
“The country struggled to balance these losses and the changing culture back home,” Vetters said. “From death on the field of honor, to the silliness — it’s just almost impossible to juxtapose the two.”
Vetters said Terry’s name lives on in stone at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, in the hearts of those gathered at the ceremony and in the collective respect of the nation.
“All across America, people honor his sacrifice,” Vetters said. “It was not in vain. It made us who we are — messy, noisy Americans. Someone always steps up. Someone always steps in. This time, it was Michael’s turn. And we honor him.”
Deb Anderson of Ingalls graduated with Terry from Mt. Vernon High School. She said she didn’t know him well, but remembers he was well-liked and played basketball.
Anderson, whose brother was also killed in Vietnam, said she’s proud of Terry and his sacrifice.
“He’ll never be forgotten,” she said.
Fortville resident Kay Beyers’ husband owned a filling station at which Terry worked while he was in high school. She and her husband were the parents of young children at the time. With tears welling in her eyes after the remembrance ceremony, she remembered Terry visiting to say goodbye a few days before leaving for Vietnam.
“He was a good kid,” Beyers said. “…He loved sports, and he was always good to my kids.”
Indianapolis resident Ron Buckler, another fellow high school graduate of Terry’s and a U.S. Navy veteran, said he has fond memories of playing basketball with Terry in junior high school and going to his house near Mt. Comfort. He echoed Beyers’ comment about Terry being “a good kid.”
“I don’t remember anything bad, no shenanigans or anything,” he added.
Buckler said while he never heard Terry talk about what motivated him to enlist in the Marines, he thinks that one of their teachers — a Marine veteran — was a source of inspiration.
John Fippen graduated with Terry and attended the ceremony as well. The McCordsville resident remembered Terry played baseball and how they were in the same youth group at church. Terry was always quiet around him, Fippen said, but “a good guy all around.”
“I didn’t believe in the Vietnam War, but I believed in our soldiers,” Fippen said. “Because of what happened to our soldiers at that time, I felt they ought to be remembered. Somebody ought to be here.”
Lynn Davis, a Fortville resident and 1968 Mt. Vernon High School graduate, agreed.
“I felt it was important to come to just honor him as a thank-you to the service and a life that was cut short too soon,” she said.
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- Purple Heart
- National Defense Service Medal
- Vietnam Service Medal
- Vietnam Campaign Medal
- Combat Action Ribbon
Source: Pritzker Military Museum & Library, Chicago
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- Born July 25, 1949 in Oneida, Tennessee
- Graduated from Mt. Vernon High School in 1968
- Enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in February 1969
- Arrived in Vietnam in July 1969
- Wounded in booby trap blast on Oct. 6, 1969
- Died at Naval Support Activity Station Hospital in Da Nang on Oct. 12, 1969
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Eleven men from Hancock County died during the Vietnam War, and one is missing in action. They are:
John Modglin on July 18, 1967
Rodger Haste on December 22, 1967
Frank W. Marks on March 9, 1968
Elvin Gose on March 18, 1968
Michael Ebert on March 21, 1968
Vaughn Brown on July 1, 1968
William Brees Jr. on Oct. 8, 1968
Huger Phelps on Feb. 10, 1969
Michael Terry on Oct. 12, 1969
Norris Borgman on Jan. 6, 1970
Mark Draper on July 22, 1970
Robert Harlan II, missing in action on Oct. 25, 1965
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