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Thomas Valerio - NOTES FROM THE VIRTUAL WALL

According to the 1st Brigade, 5th Infantry Division, after action report for Operation
Lam Son 719 two 122mm rocket bombardments on 06 March 1971 caused seven
American deaths:

x "Ham Nghi, 061120H-061145H, XD824422. Received approximately 21x
suspected 122 rockets which impacted in the Brigade Trains Area. ... There
were 2x US KIA, and 10x US WIA."
Three men actually died as a result of this attack; all were assigned to C
Troop, 1/1 Cavalry:

o SP5 Stephen W. Burgdorfer, Vane, PA
o SP4 Horace L. Burton, Texarkana, AR
o SGT Thomas Valerio, New York, NY, DoW 03/07/1971

x "QTCB, 062320H-062330H, YD302532. Received 5x 122mm rocket rounds
which impacted within the perimeter. ... There were 4x US KIA and 12x US
WIA ..."
The four dead in this attack all were assigned to F Troop, 8th Cavalry:

o SP5 Daniel W. Allen, Fort Worth, TX
o SP5 Jerry Flores, Las Vegas, NM
o SP5 Terry L. McClanahan, Chesapeake, WV
o SP4 Harvey W. Wright, Laurinburg, NC

In a separate incident on 07 March 1971, 1st Squadron, 1st Cavalry, lost its
Commanding Officer when the OH-58A (tail number 68-16814) he was in strayed
across the border and was shot down in Laos. Four men were aboard the aircraft;
two survived:

x CWO Randolph J. Ard, pilot, HHC, 1st Bde, 5th Inf Div (MIA/BNR; remains
identified 03/01/2005)
x COL Sheldon J. Burnett, HHT/1/1 Cav (MIA/BNR; remains identified
03/01/2005)
x CPT Phil Bodenhorn, A/1/1 Cav (survived)
x 2LT Saturnio Castillo, Arty F/O with 1/1 Cav (survived)

29 Nov 2003

I served with Tom while we were both stationed at Fort Knox, Kentucky. He was a
young "shake and bake" sergeant and I a new "butter bar" Lieutenant. We pulled
many duties together. Later, after he had served with the 11th Armored Cavalry he

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