Web page updated 7 October 2009
Are you a friend or family member searching for a Fleet Marine Force corpsman or Marine who served in Vietnam? Or, perhaps, you are searching for more information about corpsmen and Marines who did not, unfortunately, survive the war. All of us have fond memories of Vietnam vets with whom we shared some of the best days of our lives, and some of the worst; occasionally I am asked if I can help locate specific Marines or corpsman.
If you are searching for a long-lost friend, or for information about them, please e-mail me and I’ll list his or her name on this page. Send as much information as possible. Photographs will be especially useful, but I can accept only scanned images.
If you find the name of someone on this page whom you've been looking for, e-mail me, Bob Ingraham, and I will try to facilitate contact. I will pass on contact information only to the person you are hoping to contact, and only with your permission.
NOTE: In the following listings, persons are identified with their rating or rank at the time contact was lost, e.g. "HM3 Jones" or "PFC Smith" or 1st Lt. Williams. Newest listings first.
Listed October 7, 2009 — Mario Ybarra, Jr. is searching for any information about his father, Pfc. Mario G. Ybarra (see photo* at right), who was killed on 5 March 1966 in Quang Ngai Province, South Vietnam. He was a member of 2nd Platoon, India Company, 3/1/1, and was one of 98 Marines who died in Operation Utah. 
Mr. Ybarra was only eight months old when his father was killed. He would like to communicate with anyone who can tell him anything about his father, and especially about the specific circumstances of his death. Listed October 7, 2009 — Rick Deplace (Kilo 3/1) is looking for HN2 R.C. Stein, who served with Kilo Co. early in 1967. Rick writes, “Stein was a corpsman assigned to K company 2nd platoon from about Jan through September, 1967. He was usually with me when I was squad leader of 2nd squad. I heard that after I left Nam, that he was awarded the Silver Star but could not confirm this.” Rick believes that HN2 Stein was from Washington state.Listed August 7, 2009 — Neil Kinnison, currently serving in the U.S. Navy in Afghanistan, e-mailed me on behalf of his cousin, PFC Irving Leon Otten, who hopes to contact PFC Dewillie Simms. Otten and Simms served together as machine gunners in 3-1 India Co. Weapons Platoon during the battalion's 1966 deployment to South Vietnam.Listed July 24, 2009 — John Webster is seeking information about the death of his friend, LCpl Klaus Herms, who may have been a member of H Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines. LCpl Herms was killed on 4 March 1966 on the first day of what became Operation Utah; his company commander might have been a 2nd Lt. Lau. According to the The Wall web site, LCpl Herms died of multiple fragmentation wounds. John writes, "I would like to find out the circumstances behind his death, or maybe communicate with someone who knew him and was with him at the time of his death. I visited his grave site the other day and tears came to my eyes." Listed January 12, 2009 — HM2 Larry Skonetski is looking for Pfc. Mike Neeley. Mike was not only Larry’s best friend in Vietnam, but one of his patients: In late February, 1966, Mike tripped a mine which blew off his right leg at the knee and his left foot and severely traumatized his left lower leg. Doc Skonetski, Mike's best friend, was the first corpsman to reach him. Mike survived, and now Larry wants to contact him. Listed January 1, 2009 — HN Bob Lane is looking for LCpl Kenneth Fornoff. Bob writes, “I know his father had a bronzing shop in Beverly Hills, CA (i.e. the kind where you have things overlayed in bronze…baby shoes for preservation, etc.). We were in Golf Co. 2nd Bn, 3rd Marines in Phu Bai in 1965 and 1966.” Kenneth, wounded in Operation Harvest Moon, had to have both legs amputated as a result of a Bouncing Betty mine explosion. Bob Lane, who won a Bronze Star with "V" for Valor for saving Kenneth's life, was himself later wounded in Vietnam, and he and Kenneth spent six months together in beds next to each other at Oakland Naval Hospital.