1 February 1946 – 21 April 1968
Courts of the Missing, MIA Mem, HI.
Memorial stone placed in Resurrection Cemetery, Affton MO.
John Gates Spindler was born 1 February 1946 in St. Louis, MO to Phillip Spindler and Leona Gates. He attended St. Cecilia’s Grade school 1950-1959, St. Louis University High School 1959-1963, and Washington University 1963-1967 where he earned a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. He was a member of Beta Theta Pi Fraternity.
John enlisted in the United States Marine Corps Reserve through the Platoon Leaders/ Class (PLC) program on 14 Jan 1966. He spent 13 June through 20 August 1966 as a member of 3rd Platoon, C Company, Officer Candidates’ School. John was offered and agreed to accept a regular commission upon graduation. On Sunday, 4 June 1967, John was commissioned that evening in Graham Chapel in a joint ceremony with two other Marine Lieutenants, along with five Army and five Air Force Lieutenants from the University ROTC units.
After six days of leave and two days of travel, he reported to The Basic School (TBS), Quantico Virginia on 13 June 1967. Since he was assigned to a class that would not start until 3 July, he was given duties in the TBS headquarters for the three weeks until the class convened. On 3 July 1967, Lt Spindler became part of 5th Platoon, A Company, Basic Officers’ Class #1-68. Late in the course, Lt Spindler received his Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) assignment of 0301, Basic Infantry Officer and orders to report to Fleet Marine Force, Pacific, Western Pacific Ground Forces following graduation. The class graduated on 22 November 1967.
By 31 December 1967, he was flying to Okinawa. After five days, 2nd Lt. Spindler was on a flight to South Vietnam, arriving in Danang on 7 January 1968. His ultimate assignment was to G Company, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment (G/2/3) which was already engaged in “Operations in Defense of Danang.” He was assigned to be the 2nd Platoon Leader. On 6 February 1968, 2nd Lt. Spindler received fragmentation wounds to his right arm, but was not seriously hurt and was treated at the Battalion Aid Station and returned to duty. This would earn his first Purple Heart Medal.
Operation Scotland II commenced on 16 April 1968 as Marines at Khe Sanh broke the siege and started attacking enemy units still in the area. Lt. Spindler’s platoon was deployed to a blocking position on top of Hill 691. Combined with search and destroy missions by the other elements of the battalion, this action was designed to support fully securing Route 9 and resupply to Khe Sanh Combat Base. Enemy contact was relatively light, though Lt. Spindler did receive a minor fragmentation wound to the right side of his neck on 18 April, earning a second Purple Heart Medal.
On the morning of 21 April 1968, having had no more significant contact, 2nd Platoon was ordered to stage all personnel and ammunition for helicopter pickup. By sometime after 0800, Lt. Spindler was standing at the helicopter landing area. At that instant, two incoming rounds impact and killed Lt Spindler. His body was never found. A memorial service was held at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church and a memorial stone placed in Resurrection Cemetery in Affton MO.
USMC Resume:
TBS Class 1-68 Alpha Company, 5th Platoon June-Nov 1967
Vietnam: 7 Jan – 21 Apr 1968, G Company, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment (G/2/3)
Personal Reflections about John Spindler: From Courtney, 17 April 2015: “My recollection is that we never really called John by his first name, but always called him Spindler. He was outgoing, friendly, mischievous and always had that half crazed Spindler grin. One hot dusty day in July or August, Bruce Wiggins was acting platoon leader, walking in the middle of the dirt road while the rest of us struggled on the sides at route step. Suddenly, Spindler burst from the ranks and rushed up behind Wiggins, falling in at perfect Marx Brothers step behind him for a dozen paces before Wiggins noticed him, or noticed the grins and laughter around him. Then Spindler scampered back to his place having once again given us the gift of much needed levity. The greatest tragedy of war is the taking of young men of free spirit so full of life. God bless you, John. You always made us smile.”
2 September 1941 – 5 December 2011
Cremated: Memorial Service VFW Post 8207, FL
Larry David St. John of Longwood, FL was born in Shelby, OH on Sept. 2, 1941 to Elton and Betty St. John. Larry graduated from Shelby High School in 1959 and The Ohio State University in 1966. At OSU he met future wife, Zan, and they were married Dec. 23, 1966. Larry joined the Marine Corps and served from 1966-1970. He attained the rank of Captain, serving one tour in Vietnam, and earning two purple hearts and the bronze star. Following military service, Larry accepted a sales position with Ashland Petroleum Company where he remained employed for twenty years. The St. Johns have one daughter, Erin E. Hearon (Mike), residing in Hampton, VA; and four grandchildren, Brandon, Austin, Dylan and Kaitlyn. Larry also has a sister, Marsha Bell, of Sun Lakes, AZ.
USMC Resume:
The Basic School Class 1-68 Alpha Company, 5th Platoon, Jun-Nov 1967
Personal Reflections about Larry St John:
Graduating from Southern Cal (USC Trojans) with a BA in political science in 1967 he began five years of service in the Marines. He flew helicopters in Vietnam and in Pensacola as a flight instructor. After military service he worked as a laborer, school teacher, saloon keeper, and commercial and sometimes mercenary helicopter pilot in the United States, Peru, Jamaica, Indonesia, Egypt and Nigeria. He regards loitering on the beach in the Sun as his true calling – He excels. Pensacola Beach is his home.
Photo Information:
rvn70 was taken in the late Spring of 1970 southwest of Da Nang where I was based at Marble Mountain with HML-167 MAG-16. Aircraft is a UH-1E gunship. Nothing background in the windscreen is due to it being the smokey season when the rice farmers burned their fields. Fun flying conditions. My gunner in the left rear crew position took the photo. I wanted to get a good shot of me and our primitive sights in the right front crew position.
peru90-b was taken in 1990 in the Huallaga Valley of Peru on the eastern slopes of the Andes shut down on a smugglers’ airstrip. The machine is a UH-1H owned by our State Department with Peruvian Guardia Civil (National police) markings “POLICIA.” My AK-47 sidearm was from North Korea on loan to me from the Peruvian cops. I was working for a company which provided pilots and maintenance to the State Department for anti-drug operations. A civil war was in progress too against the Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path).
tv13-4: Crashing on a mountaintop in Vietnam. Clean living pays off …
The following is an edited version of an article titled “General Breaks Leg in Helo Crash.” Da Nang (AP) – The commander of the U.S. 1st Marine Division, Maj. General Edwin B. Wheeler, suffered a broken leg Saturday (date: 700420) in a helicopter crash about 15 miles southwest of here (DaNang), military spokesmen reported. Four other Marines, including two colonels, were injured when the UH1 Huey lost power and crashed on a reconnaissance mission. Spokesmen said the pilot escaped injury. Wheeler, 52, a native of Port Chester, N.Y., and the other Marines were rescued by another helicopter “in a matter of minutes” and brought to the Marine 1st Medical Battalion Dispensary at Da Nang, a spokesman said. All the injured were reported in satisfactory condition. The two colonels were identified as E. A. Wilcox, the division’s assistant chief of staff for operations, and T. H. Waldrop, commander of the 1st Marine Regiment. Spokesmen said the helicopter was destroyed. The following is an edited version of an article titled “Wheeler to States” from the Monday, April 27th issue. Da Nang (AP) – Maj. Gen. Edwin B. Wheeler, commander of the 1st Marine Div., was flown to the Unites States Monday for treatment of a broken leg suffered in a helicopter crash April 18. He will be succeeded permanently by Maj. Gen. Charles F. Widdecke.
Born 01/23/45 Hollis, Queens, NYC. Enlisted 06/05/62. Was commissioned on 06/07/67, from the Fleet Candidate Program, at the NROTC Unit, University of Mississippi. Attended TBS, Alpha 1-68 (5th Platoon), from June to November 67.
From January to December 1968 was assigned to 2d Battalion 3d Marines in Viet Nam. From January to April 1968 was Platoon Commander of 3d Plt. Echo 2/3. Was WIA 19 March, grenade shrapnel to face and concussion while on Operation Ford. Was WIA gunshot wound to right temple 21 April at Hill 580 Khe Sanh. Assigned as Company Commander Golf 2/3 30 May to 24 October. Was WIA (non-evacuated) four times while a company commander with shrapnel wounds to legs and arms. WIA artillery shrapnel left elbow 24 October. Was promoted to 1st Lieutenant in October 1968.
From January 1969 to February 1971, was assigned to 2d Reconnaissance Battalion, CLNC. While with 2d Recon served as a Platoon Commander, deployed to Mediterranean, Assistant S-3 and simultaneously as the S-4. Was promoted to Captain in March 1971.
From May 1971to May 1973 served as Ground Combat Intelligence Officer, Seventh Fleet Staff on board USS Oklahoma City, CLG-5. Participated in all three Haiphong naval gunfire strikes and was aboard USS Oklahoma City when it was attacked by a Mig 17 (near miss with bomb) during March 1972. While with Seventh Fleet Staff was assigned, on a rotating basis to, CAS Udorn, Udorn Thailand, participating in eleven special operations.
After OCS Summer Augmentation as a Staff Platoon Commander, attended AWS August 1973 to June 1974, then assigned to Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, Illinois, as the Marine Officer Instructor from August 1974 to July 1977. Was an OCS Staff Platoon Commander the summers of 1975 and 1976.
From August 1977 to August 1979 was assigned to 2d Marines at CLNC. Was the Company Commander of Bravo ½ from August 1977 to January 1978. Was promoted to Major in January 1978. Was assigned as the Operations Officer of 2/2 from January 1978 to December 1978, and Executive Officer of 2/2 from January to August 1979.
Attended Marine Corps Command and General Staff College from August 1979 to June 1980, graduating as the Distinguished Graduate. Was assigned to HQMC as the POM Working Group Member in MPP-47 from July 1980 to May 1983. Was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in January 1983.
From June 1983 to June 1984 was assigned to Camp Schwab Okinawa as the Commanding Officer of 3d Reconnaissance Battalion and the Deputy Camp commander.
From July 1984 to December 1986 was assigned to TBS as the Logistics Officer TBS then Commanding Officer of Support Battalion TBS. From January 1987 to July 1988 was assigned as the Deputy Director of the Marine Wargaming Center, MCCDEC, Quantico.
From August 1988 to September 1991 served as Acting Commanding Officer, then Executive Officer of the NROTC Unit, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (VPI&SU/ Virginia Tech), Blacksburg Virginia. Retired from the Marine Corps as a Lieutenant Colonel on 1 October 1991.
Since May 1992 have served in the Joint Military Intelligence Training Center of the Defense Intelligence Agency, Washington D.C. as an instructor and branch chief in the grade of GS-15. Was deployed to Afghanistan in 2005 and to Iraq in 2007 and 2009. Anticipate retirement in 2016.
I grew up in Chattanooga, TN. We lived in a suburban residential area called Brainerd, but where I really liked to be was on my grandparent’s farm outside Chattanooga, despite my Mother’s best efforts to spare us from ever having to be on a farm. I bought my first horse when I was 12 and have had horses ever since.
I went to a prep school in Chattanooga called Baylor, where I was a City, State, Midsouth, and prep school national wrestling champion. I went to Purdue on a wrestling scholarship, and went through the NROTC program there. I was commissioned, graduated, and married Jeannie Hamner on June 4, 1967.
Jeannie and I lived in Fredericksburg while I was at TBS. While TBS was hardly a honeymooner’s paradise, I did enjoy my time at there. From TBS we went to Supply School at Camp Lejeune, finishing first in my class. While at Lejeune I met a colonel’s wife who had horses there. I rode them for her. Both Jeannie and I really like both her and her supply officer husband. It was no secret that Viet Nam was my next stop, but Colonel McBroom would play a role in my Marine Corps future.
In Vietnam I was with the artillery battalion 3/11. It was a very good outfit that supported the 7th Marines outside Danang, Vietnam I was the supply officer for the battalion as well as the security officer for our sector of Hill 55. While I was there, our headquarters battery never left Hill 55.
While I led my share of conveys supporting our displaced firing batteries, my experience was relatively tame compared to what some you had. About two months in my tour on the hill I saw Major Andy Bauer, our engineering instructor at TBS. I went over to introduce myself. He told me he was there to be the XO of 3/11. He was a great guy to work with. We had several different COs, but Bauer ran the show. Most all the officers liked working with him.
An ironic twist is that our S3 got orders to Purdue as the Marine Officer Instructor of the NROTC program. He asked me to fill him in on the Purdue job. I told him he was going to great place. Lots of support from the administration, and the NROTC program was the best one on campus. A couple of months after he was there, protestors of the war burned down the armory. Oh well.
After Vietnam I went to Camp Pendleton. My wife, who had been living with Larry St John’s wife while we were in Vietnam, went to California after I got my orders to get us set up for Camp Pendleton. Just a few days after she got there, she ran into Nancy McBroom in the grocery store. Long story short, Colonel McBroom got my orders changed to be his assistant. His wife and my wife found a horse for me that we later brought back to Kansas City when I got out of the Marine Corps.
Ed Shore was a neighbor at Pendleton. McBroom’s outfit, the 4th Marine Nucleus, had Three Marine Corps generals and three lieutenants along with a host of Colonels, all on their sunset tours. Since I knew I would be some general’s aide, I volunteered to be Gen Oppenheimer’s aide. He had the largest cattle brokerage and one of the largest farm management companies in the country. He was also an avid polo player. We hit it off right away. When I was ready to get out of the Marine Corps, he offered me a job with his operation. In those days it was very easy to get a job, but I jumped at this one.
I worked at Oppenheimer Industries for 15 years, when General Oppenheimer died unexpectedly. During my time there I worked in a number of cattle management and client services capacities. My last job there was Sr VP of the real estate division. With the death of the General, his son took over the company. I left immediately, and the company was bankrupt in two years.
During that time I bought a farm outside Kansas City. Actually it was a cow pasture. The horse we brought back from Camp Pendleton was the down payment. We built a house on the 80 acres and have lived there ever since.
We have a son who is now a lieutenant colonel in the Marine Corps. He has been a pilot almost all of his career and was lead test pilot for the Osprey. In 2006 he was Test Pilot of the Year. Our daughter spent six years as a Navy nurse. She lived in Guam for four years, which was a very neat place to visit. Both our kids went to college on NROTC scholarships, Scott to Vanderbilt, Amy to Marquette.
After leaving Oppenheimer I set up my own insurance business (health and life). I have been an adjunct professor at various college graduate schools. I teach finance and economics. I’ve also been very active with horse shows, hunters and jumpers, which is one big reason I like living in the country.
Later I started riding steeplechase horses. I owned, trained and jockeyed steeplechase horses for about 20 years. What a blast that was. My last five years I rode the North Virginia Timber circuit and had the Horse of the Year in 2005. I’m now too old to get a jockey’s license.
Jeannie and I still ride for pleasure, and I drive our horses to a jog cart and buckboard wagon at the Paola farmers Market during the season on Saturdays. We have a boutique vegetable operation. Asparagus is our primary crop. Rhubarb, spinach, beets, sweet corn, cucumbers and tomatoes are our popular crops. April through June are our primary months. It gets pretty hot and dry after that. It’s fun and marginally profitable.
That’s about it. I’m so glad we’re getting back together. I think of TBS often, and I’m looking forward to seeing you again.
21 August 1945 – 3 November 1992
Arlington National Cemetery, VA 22212
John Tritsch passed away on 3 Nov 1992, at the age of 47, of heart disease in Narberth, PA.
John Ballou Tritsch was born 21 Aug 1945 in Wilmington, DE to John Grant Tritsch and Grace Ballou. John’s father, who attended Princeton University and earned a BS Chemical Engineering in 1942, worked at the DuPont Corporation in Wilmington. John was the only boy in the Tritsch family with older sister and four younger sisters: Grace, Jean, Catherine, Margaret, and Irene.
John attended Princeton University earning a BS in Chemical Engineering in 1967. While at Princeton, John was commander of the Navy ROTC drill team and a member of the Elm Club.
Following graduation, he accepted a regular commission as a second lieutenant in the USMC and served in Vietnam. John was severely wounded in combat and sustained shrapnel wounds over most of his body. He spent many months in a hospital in Japan until he could return to the U.S., where he spent another six months at Bethesda Naval Medical Center. Upon his recovery, he went to interrogators’ school and language school, and was honorably discharged in August of 1971 with the rank of Captain. John was awarded the Purple Heart.
John then went on to receive an MBA from the Wharton School and became a CPA, working at Arthur Young. He also worked with FMC, CertainTeed, Sperry Univac, and Movie Exchange, before starting his own business, Cornerstone Business Solutions, which specialized in designing computer business systems.
John served on the Board of Directors of the Philadelphia Jaycees from 1976-1979. He was a member of the American Institute of CPAs and the New York State Society of CPAs. He enjoyed jogging, volleyball, personal computing and photography. John died on 3 Nov 1992, of heart disease in Narberth, PA. He was interred at Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors.
USMC Resume: TBS Class 1-68 Alpha Company, 5th Platoon June-Nov 1967 Vietnam: XXX – XXX, Unit? Post-Vietnam: Hospitals in Japan and Annapolis, MD Interrogators’ school and language school, Monterey CA ITT Pendleton: xxx – Aug 1971 Discharged August 1971 with the rank of Captain. Awarded the Purple Heart.
Personal Reflections about John Tritsch:
From John Schmid, 23 Mar 2015: “John Tritsch and I were in the same ITT (Interrogation Translation Team) at Pendleton. We lived in the BOQ together for a while and would eat together in the evenings. He later moved out to an apartment in Oceanside (he was a terrible housekeeper, by the way) but we still hung out on weekends. Nat Reed, 4th Plt, also hung out with John and me at Pendleton. John’s wounds were horrible and he had terrible scars on his chest and abdomen. We were both released from active duty in August ’71. I was living with my parents in San Francisco and John came and stayed with us for a few days before he went home in the East. He had been close to Hank Wright at TBS, so he called Hank Wright’s parents and they invited us over for dinner at their home in Oakland. We drove across the bridge to Oakland and Mr. & Mrs. Wright served us dinner at their home. It was a very sad evening and I still remember clearly how proud they were of Hank [Hank – USNA grad KIA RVN]. A few years later, after we both had received MBAs, we were living and working in New York. We occasionally got together for drinks and BS. I remember one very cold Sunday going to his apartment in Brooklyn Heights and watching the Super Bowl. My last memory of John is having drinks with him at the Princeton Club where he told me he was developing software (the PC was just becoming common) for, I believe, the insurance industry. I lost track of John after the early ’80s, but I have always valued memories of knowing him. I have no doubt that his serious wounds shortened his life.”
From Nat Reed, 24 Mar 2015: “What stands out in my memory about John Tritsch occurred during a field exercise at Pendleton during the first or second quarter of ’71. I was in the 25th ITT after 47 weeks at language school in Monterey, California (I know, tough duty, but someone had to do it.) During the exercise, we spent some time doing interrogations, and also some time being interrogated. When I was being subjected to interrogation, I remember John, who was part of the interrogation team, really got into his role and displayed some incredible histrionics. John was a real character! I was stunned recently when I learned that John had passed away. Our paths never crossed again after we left the Corps. I give him a lot of credit–he graduated from one of the finest B schools in the world. God rest his soul.”
