One area family has been waiting over 48 years to more fully understand exactly what happened that day in July of 1967, when the Vietnam War claimed the life of Roger W. Greetan.
Jay Fell was Greetan’s squad leader in the U.S. Army’s Company B, 1st Battalion of the 2nd Infantry Regiment of the 1st Infantry Division. Fell and his wife, Joan, traveled from Tracy, California, to Oconto Falls and met with members of the Greetan family on Oct. 28. The Fells modified their vacation plans to include three days in the area.
“We all went away with a sigh of relief,” Gaylin Greetan said. “We all know what transpired that day.” Gaylin, a younger brother of Roger, said Roger’s death was the most horrific thing that happened in his life. He was 9 years old when his brother was killed in Vietnam.
“He was my hero before he went to Vietnam and became an actual hero,” said Gaylin, who recalled holding his brother’s hand when they walked to school together and learning about sports from his big brother.
Fell’s visit was arranged after Harry Spice, Greetan’s distant cousin, noticed Fell’s posting paying tribute to Greetan, his former unit member and friend on the Virtual Wall page of the Vietnam Memorial Wall website. Fell was with Greetan on July 18, 1967, on a search and destroy mission when they came under heavy fire near the “Parrot’s Beak,” near the Iron Triangle northwest of Saigon.
Spice noticed the posting on Memorial Day, and months of correspondence followed between Fell and Spice, culminating in Fell’s visit to meet the Greetan family and share memories.
“I could never forget about Roger. … He saved my life twice that day. He is a true hero,” Fell told those assembled at the Gaylin Greetan home in rural Oconto Falls.
“Every Vietnam vet has a story; welcome to mine,” Fell said.
Fell said he needed to open his “own secret box” where the memories of his lost combat buddies reside. He explained how, on the day of the battle, he was a gunner and Greetan was a munitions carrier for the M-60 machine gun. Fell told how they had fired more rounds that day than ever before on the battlefield, over 1,000 rounds, he estimated.
When they began to run out of ammunition, Fell said Greetan crossed enemy fire and ran back with two more heavy cases of ammunition, each with 200 rounds. Fell’s job was to feed the ammunition belts through the machine gun. After firing so many rounds, the barrel of the machine gun started to melt down, which sent Greetan back into enemy fire to retrieve a barrel replacement, Fell recalled. Shortly afterward, Greetan was hit by an artillery projectile and suffered multiple shrapnel wounds, leading to his death. He was 20 years old.
Fell told of the friendship he shared with Greetan “in country,” as Greetan, a young replacement soldier joined the unit and learned his role well. Fell said he was impressed by Greetan’s athletic ability — he was a four-sport athlete at Oconto Falls High School — and told of playing baseball at the battalion headquarters of the Big Red One base camp at Phuoc Vinh. He also told of other, lighter moments in country.
After Fell relived those memories, Spice said he finally had his questions answered.
“Just listening to his story, you get overwhelmed by what you hear. You really do. These guys, they were just teenagers,” Spice said.
He said Greetan deserves respect for paying the ultimate sacrifice for his country, especially as the nation celebrates Veterans Day.
“You’ve got to really take a look at what Veterans Day is all about. Everyone really needs to think about what these men had to go through,” he said.
Greetan was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart, Bronze Star for meritorious achievement in ground operations against hostile forces and Silver Star for gallantry in action. He was the only soldier from Oconto Falls killed in action in Vietnam.
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