In Honor Of Lance Corporal David E. Padilla

Synopsis of Incident:

U.S. Marine Corps Lance Corporal David E. Padilla arrived in Vietnam on May 16, 1967. He had only a short time to serve when he was sent on a several-day reconnaissance patrol in the Khe Sanh area of Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam. Padilla was a member of E Company, 3rd Recon Battalion.

The events of the patrol are cloudy. Several team members were killed or wounded in unspecified action, probably against the NVA 27th Independent Battalion, which had been observed operating in the Camp Carroll area. One fellow Marine, wishing more information about Padilla's fate, filed a
Freedom of Information request through the Marine Corps.

The Marine Corps responded that they have no official documents describing the events of the
action, and forwarded a DD Form 1300, Report of Casualty, containing releasable information on LCPL Padilla. According to the DD Form 1300, Padilla "died 18 May 1968 Quang Tri Province
Republic of Vietnam result multiple wounds to the entire body from hostile mortar fire while
on a reconnaissance patrol."

The Marine was not satisfied, and requested information from the History and Museums Division of the Department of the Navy. The action chronology of the 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion shows the following statistics (but provides no details of the actions):

During the month of May, 1968, Company E conducted 36 patrols averaging 3.62 days with an average of 7.53 men per patrol. The patrols made seven [enemy] sightings for a total of 31 enemy, which resulted in six contacts and five fire missions of 133 artillery rounds...There was a total of five USMC KIA [killed in action] and one USN WIA [wounded in action]."

Company E, while operating in the vicinity of XD 8849 (roughly, the Khe Sanh area), conducted 68 1/2 hours of reconnaissance resulting in one sighting of five enemy and one contact with approximately 25 enemy. The contact resulted in three USMC KIA, two USMC WIA and one USN WIA.

Company E was joined at the 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion Command at Khe Sanh by Companies A, B, C, D and H & S Company. The combined total number KIA during the month of May, 1968 from these other companies was one. During the month of May, Company E had suffered five KIA, over 80% of the combat deaths of the entire battalion, and the Marines had no records of the actions.

The Marines listed David E. Padilla as killed in action, body not recovered. He is listed with honor among the missing because no remains were returned to his country for burial. In death, as in war, David E. Padilla is a statistic. The Marines did not bother to keep on file the events which chronicled
his last hours on earth.

Families and friends of the missing are continually frustrated in attempts to learn details of the loss
of American servicemen. When records do exist, they are all-too-frequently classified. Some families have learned they will have to wait half a century before the records of their loved one are
declassified. Until then, they must wonder and wait.

Tragically, over 10,000 reports relating to Americans prisoner, missing or unaccounted for in Southeast Asia have been received by the U.S. Government since 1975. Much of this information is classified, but many officials who have reviewed it believe hundreds of Americans are still alive, held
captive, today.

If, as U.S. policy seems to indicate, all the men missing in Southeast Asia are dead, what harm could come by releasing information to their friends and family? If, on the other hand, Americans are still alive, why hasn't our government stepped out from behind this "classified curtain" to bring them
home?

Source: POW Network - Biographies on POW/MIA from the Vietnam Conflict

Please e-mail me if you have any additional information about Lance Corporal Padilla,
or if you have any comments about this page.

Go to Cpl Keiper and Sgt Ravenna's Page

Go to Captain John W. Consolvo's, Jr.'s Page

Go to SFC Guillory, Lt Lemmons and Capt McKittrick's Page

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		This page was created in honor of Lance Corporal David E. Padilla, United States Marine Corps
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