Some of you will remember a tall, lean and rangey red-headed soldier in the commo platoon; a handsome fellow with a ready smile. He stood 6′-2″, weighed about 180 lbs. He arrived in the company in 1962, a radio operator, direct from Ft Carlson, CO. While he was assigned to commo, he went out with patrols regularly. Eventually he would switch to patrols exclusively.

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Jerry came from Oklahoma City, OK., the only son of Merle and Gladys Lewis. He had a younger sister, Judy. When Jerry, [later aka “Red”] was drafted in 1962, he was 21 years old. He was then about 5′-4″ tall and weighed 135 lbs., about the same as his sister. He had tried out for football in high school but decided he was too small to compete. He turned his attention to hunting and fishing, instead.

He most surely must have sprung up in the first year of his military career. He bore no resemblance to that “little kid” when he arrived at Nellingen Barracks, a volunteer for the Army’s elite new unit, the Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol Co., (ABN), as a “leg” Pfc, in 1962. He was a gentle, reserved and generous soul; good natured and not adverse to hard work. He seemed to relish in it, in fact. Few could keep up to him in those runs around “the Horn”. He had stamina to burn.

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We constantly teased him about his thick red hair, and he took it well enough, although it became abundantly clear when the kidding had gone far enough. When Jerry’s usually thin-lipped smile began to turn into a snarl, and he stood up-right and began looking around for someone to “bear hug”, it was time to shut up, or else. Jerry was not prone to getting into scrapes. He got on well with everyone. He was not a belligerent person and deferred from conflicts, especially at the usually contentious Rod and Gun Club bar. He was no shrinking violet, however, and not a man to mess with. He saved a fair share of us from getting our “besotted skulls” beat in a few or more times. Jerry was very protective of any one in danger and was always clear headed in his thinking.

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Jerry graduated from the 8th inf Div. Airborne School at Weisbaden, Ger., in one of the first classes that the Lurps would send up there. Lurps usually took any honors that were to be had, and Jerry’s class was no exception. He and his fellow Lurps must surely have run the others into the ground, as a Lurp was selected Honor Student, thus establishing a “long running” tradition, (pun intended).

His in-exhaustible constitution to run and march long distances garnered him the honor of being selected to the first twelve-man team from LRRP to represent VII Corps and 7th Army in the International Invitational “Viertaagse”; a 100 km four-day march held at Nijmegen, Holland, in August of 1964. In this, their initial appearance, the select LRRP team finished ahead of the entire competition, which included over 400 U.S. soldiers and airmen. Shouting cadence, and carrying bouquets of flowers handed to them by spectators, our troopers double-timed the last 100 yards past the reviewing stand to the applause and cheers of thousands.

Our man, Jerry, had become a very good and competent soldier. He now stood a respectable 6′-2″, and weighed in at 185 lean pounds. He held his own against some of the very best in the company, and under some of the most difficult of conditions and circumstances. He took to parachuting with a vigor. It led him to join the sky diving club that was populated with many of his fellow Lurps. His military Jump Record for 3 Dec 62 through 21 Nov 63 lists seventeen jumps, including C-130’s (11), U1A Otter (2), H-34 (3) and C-124 (1).

On August 2, 1965, he received his orders to proceed to the Republic of Viet Nam, with a brief stop-over to his family home in Oklahoma. Proceeding to San Francisco, Ca., he was assigned to the 61st Avn. Co., and from there, to Viet Nam. He arrived “in country”, August 16, 1965. Sometime after arriving, he was either re-assigned to, or volunteered for assignment to HQ and HQ Company, 503rd Inf., 173rd Abn Inf. Bgd.

Our gentle, red-headed giant was coming to fight in Viet Nam. He was about to take on the greatest challenge of his life. He was going to test his mettle and his convictions about the righteousness of the war. He was already a soldier-patriot. He was now ready to take on an additional and higher mantle, that of a warrior. Only some seven months “in country”, Jerry wrote to his family on March 3rd, saying to them that he had applied for state side duty and that he was going to “Come home and settle down to a normal life and normal people.” On Wednesday, March 16th, Jerry went out on a “search and destroy” mission in the vicinity of Phuc Vinh, RVN. They engaged the enemy and a hand grenade exploded nearby to Jerry. He was hit in the head by shrapnel, dying instantly from the wound. He was just 24 years old.

“Vale, you gentle warrior. Rest, now, and know that your sacrifice was not in vain.”