Arlington
National Cemetery Information and Press Releases.
6 May 2005
Brief note here to advise all. There have been some changes to the below information.
No Chapel Service will take place prior to the ceremony at graveside. Please
check with us on Monday between 1600 – 2100 at the Quality Inn Iwo Jima
conference room. We will use this location as a communication center.
23 April 2005
Due to overwhelming response to our invitation to attend the reception
following the Arlington Services we have been forced to not accept any further
requests. Our guest list has surpassed the allowable limit and capabilities of
the facility. We will accept requests to be placed on a wait list in case
vacancies develop. Contact information is listed below.
GN.
18 April 2005 –Update
From Email
Hello
all, we are sending this as an update for the families and other guests on the
plans for Arlington. I know many of you have questions and this may
alleviate some of them.
First,
I guess there are some questions in the family's i.e. Why are they doing
this? This is a simple answer- we bled, suffered and endured with them just as
if we were on the Breaker Patrol, and most importantly they were our Brothers.
There will be at least one survivor from that patrol and others from the aircrews in
Arlington. It is our responsibility to honor them upon their return and comfort
their families during this emotional time. Lets just say it is something that
we have to do. This is an example of Brotherhood as we know it. At the same
time we know that this will help eject some troubling and emotional aspects
from our minds, which we have lived with for so long. There will be closure for
many on May 10.
Okay
-here are the plans as we know them at this point. There will be busses
provided to the families by the Marine Corps & Navy. The Casualty office
explained their regulations state they are only to transport to funeral
services and then back to the hotel the families were picked up
from. The Veterans & other guests will utilize busses under our contract
with a charter bus company. We are in hopes to change some minds in the
casualty offices. In case we are unsuccessful the reception location is within
walking distance from both hotels and we will help shuttle people if necessary.
Some folks arriving are handicapped and need transportation.
We
suggest that any folks driving to Arlington and are on our invite list
to drop off autos at the Quality Iwo Jima and ride our busses. Drivers
will not have to worry about parking or getting lost.
The
best way to do this is to set a game plan or warning order as Marines call
it, in place. We ask that Phil, Dana, and Irene to be the contact
persons for each family. On 9 May at 4:30pm we will distribute name
tags to the family reps and to our veterans and other guests. These will
be used to identify the person with the Family Marine and also used as
invitations to the reception.
The
schedule at this date is this.
The
families will be picked up at the two hotels -Virginia Suites and Quality Inn
Iwo Jima. (We will advise pick up time at later date) They will be taken to the
Ft. Meyers Chapel and arrive by 10:30. There will be a short service at the
chapel and then busses will transport to graveside in Section 60 at
Arlington. The service will begin at 11:00. The reception will begin at a
planned time of 2:00 pm until 5:00pm.
The
reception will be held at The Top of The Town at 1400 N. 14th Street,
Arlington. We have chosen this location as we think it suits all of our needs.
You can view the internet website for familiarization.
See
http://www.topofthetown.net/
I
have placed a map of the two hotel locations and the Top of the
Town.
See
http://www.georgeneville.com/arlingtonmap.htm
Quality
Inn Iwo Jima -1501 Arlington Blvd
Virginia
Suites 1500 Arlington Blvd.
There
will undoubtedly be more questions as we get closer to May 10th. This
information and updates will be posted here.
http://www.georgeneville.com/reconteambreaker.htm
This
will be a very large gathering at Arlington. DOD & Government Officials,
Press, Other Veterans, and many other interested people in attendance.
We
have a cut off limit of 180 for the reception and only a few spots are left.
There will be no government officals at our reception.
Arlington
Committee
Ray
Raymond
Don
Schwinn
Jeff
Savelkoul
George
Neville
Email
contact & phone contact George Neville
Alpha
Recon Association
"Serving Our Marines Since 1989"
The Return
of Recon Team Breaker’s MIA’s
10 May 1967 |
1stLt. |
Ahlmeyer
Jr. |
Heinz |
|
Pearl River |
NY |
19E |
77 |
10 May 1967 |
HM3 |
Miller |
Malcom |
T. |
Tampa |
FL |
19E |
84 |
10 May 1967 |
LCpl. |
Sharp Jr. |
Samuel |
A. |
San Jose |
CA |
19E |
86 |
10 May 1967 |
Sgt. |
Tycz |
James |
N. |
Milwaukee |
WI |
19E |
88 |
1stLt. Heinz Ahlmeyer
Jr. Sgt. James Neal Tycz HM3 Malcom T. Miller LCpl. Samuel A. Sharp,Jr.
Photos of Ahlmeyer and
Sharp can be enlarged – just click on the photo
Arlington National
Cemetery Information
Background
On May 9th 1967 US Marine Corps Recon Team Breaker was inserted by helicopter
into the jungle area just south of the Demilitarized Zone, approximately 12
kilometers NW of Khe Sanh
Combat Base. Their mission was to gather information on suspected enemy infiltration
routes. Given the history of prior enemy sightings and enemy contact by a
previous recon patrol in the same exact area enemy contact was highly probable.
Shortly after midnight the patrol came under heavy small arms fire. 2nd Lt.
Heinz Ahlmeyer and Pfc Samuel Sharp were killed
instantly. The remaining patrol members fought with the enemy throughout the
night and into day of May 10th. The Patrol Leader Sgt. James Tycz and Hospital Corpsman Malcolm Miller were wounded and
subsequently died during the night. The three remaining Team Members Clarence
Carlson, Carl Friery, and Steven Lopez were all wounded. They were extracted
after the gallant efforts of the helicopter aircrews enabled a successful in
recovery of the wounded but were unable to recover the fallen team members Ahlmeyer, Miller, Tycz, and
Sharp. Due to heavy combat and the extreme danger in the enemy's zone these
Marines that were killed in action were unable to be recovered throughout the
Vietnam War. Additionally Capt. Paul Looney a pilot was killed during one of
several attempts to extract the team. Several aircrew members were also
wounded.
The remains of our Marines were recovered by the men and women of the Joint
POW/MIA Accounting Command during a recovery operation during May 2003. These
remains were repatriated to Hawaii on 23 May 2003. All four were positively
identified by DNA examination and dental comparisons.
Arlington
National Cemetery Information
On 10 May 2005 our men that have been missing since 1967 will now be honored and
interred at Arlington National Cemetery on the 38th anniversary of the
engagement on Hill 655, Quang Tri Province, Vietnam.
A group interment will take place for all four men, as well as three individual
interments for Heinz Ahlmeyer, Malcolm Miller, and
James Tycz. For those that wish to attend it is
suggested that you refer to the Arlington National Cemetery website for
complete information for visiting Arlington. It can be found at http://www.arlingtoncemetery.org/
The Alpha Recon Association is assisting in the coordination of the burial
ceremonies and hosting the reception that will follow the interments. The exact
time for the Group Burial is not known at this time. For additional information
as it becomes known please check http://www.georgeneville.com/reconteambreaker.htm.
The times are also posted on the main page for Arlington National Cemetery.
George Neville
For further information, including
San Jose hotel info, contact either:
Alpha Recon
Association
United States Marine Corps Veterans