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| Roots of Collin County: Finding Bill Bryan
'All of us had spent so many years trying to forget things, and here we were now trying to remember everything.' 12:05 AM CST on Thursday, January 22, 2004 By RONNIE D. FOSTER On Jan. 20, 1968, Cpl. Charles W. "Bill" Bryan, Bravo Company, 3rd Recon Battalion, was killed as he tried to save the lives of two fellow Marines during a fierce battle on Hill 881-North, about five miles northwest of Khe Sanh in Vietnam. Bill was the leader of Team Barkwood, a seven-man reconnaissance patrol assigned the mission of retrieving a lost radio and code sheet. The two seriously wounded Marines were assistant team leader Cpl. Lionel Guerra and radio operator Lance Cpl. Robert "P.J." Pagano, who were medevaced off the hill at separate times that afternoon. They were both sent back to hospitals in the states, eventually being retired because of their wounds. Inspiration Just the day before I contacted him, Lionel had read in a Seattle newspaper the story of a woman who took the name of a soldier killed in Vietnam from a tombstone and thought it would be interesting to research his life. Also Online Part 1: Searching for Bill Bryan Lionel said reading the article had fired him up so that he was on the verge of flying to McKinney and finding Bill's family. But first he got on the Internet and went to the Virtual Wall Web site that she had mentioned in her article and found the name Charles William Bryan. That is where he saw my posting. Lionel found a phone number for P.J. Pagano in New Hampshire, who was the only other living person from that patrol, Team Barkwood. Once again I made a phone call, being very nervous not knowing what his reaction would be. Courtesy of Deidra Bryan Washam Bill Bryan played for the McKinney Lions in 1965. He graduated from McKinney High School in 1967 and was killed in Vietnam less than a year later. Here was another guy who also thought about Bill every single day. It was another very emotional conversation. The story they each told me was almost identical except when it got to how Bill had died. They had both been severely wounded and were lying in thick elephant grass less than 10 feet apart. Bill had just left Lionel to reach P.J., who was losing a lot of blood, when he was hit under the arm by an AK-47 round and died almost instantly. It was where he went down that their stories differed, and it bothered both of them that they remembered the same most important event in their lives so differently. More connections Two weeks after talking to P.J., my friend Linda Phillips, who is helping me do research, found a phone number for Deidra's father who was living in another city. He was glad to hear from me and said that Deidra would be happy to talk to me as well. She had since remarried and had raised a family, including eight grandchildren. It was great to talk to her again, and as we talked, a lot of my guilt went away. She didn't know much at all about the details of her husband's death, mainly what it said on the Navy Cross Citation. She thought she was the only one who still thought about Bill. I told her to go to the Hill 881-South Web site and she would see there are an awful lot of people who not only remember him, but who hold him in the highest esteem. Lionel called her that night. He called me the next day, and, sounding as excited as a kid on Christmas morning, told me he was coming to McKinney. Two promises he had made to himself years earlier were to meet Deidra and visit Bill's grave. P.J. called me and said he was on his way to Texas, as well; he wouldn't miss this for anything. All of this came to a head on the weekend of the Marine Corps' 228th birthday. Imagine that. The last time those two had seen each other, they were on the verge of death on that bloody hillside with the body of Cpl. Bill Bryan lying between them. Lionel was sent to a hospital in Washington state while P.J. returned to his home in New York. Remembering It was a wonderful reunion between those two that I had the honor of witnessing. Deidra came from her home in central Texas, and that night we sat around my kitchen table and for the first time put the complete story of Bill Bryan together. All of us had spent so many years trying to forget things, and here we were now trying to remember everything. "I had always, and still do, have dreams about him," Deidra said. "The dreams are always the same. He is hurt and needs me, but I can never help him. I was so worried that he died among strangers feeling all alone. That thought has haunted me so much." Courtesy of Ronnie D. Foster Last November, 35 years after the death of Bill Bryan, the two men whose lives he saved in Vietnam, his high school friend and his widowed bride were brought together in McKinney to share stories about his life and to remember his heroism. From left, Lionel Guerra, Ronnie D. Foster, Deidra Bryan Washam and P.J. Pagano. It was a very comforting feeling for her to now know that he was with two guys who were as close as brothers. And as Lionel and P.J. told the story again, they realized that although they had thought they had seen Bill's death differently, in actuality they had seen it the same. P.J. was higher on the hill lying flat on his back and looking down, while Lionel was face down looking up. They were caught in a crossfire between enemy troops and the Marines down the hill, and the close air and artillery pounding the hilltop added to the confusion. Plus they both had lost a lot of blood and were in shock. P.J.'s lower leg was shattered by rifle fire, and his face and hands were littered with grenade shrapnel. Lionel had been hit in the arm by an AK round that traveled through his arm and came out his shoulder, and he was hit by grenade shrapnel in the back and legs. Closure Compared to the 35 years that had elapsed, that reunion seemed to have come together in a heartbeat. Once the momentum started, it took on a life of its own. It was very emotional and fulfilling for all four of us. All of our questions had been answered, old promises made had been kept, and we could put an end to that chapter in our lives. We could now all remember Bill Bryan as we knew and loved him, with that big grin he always seemed to have on his friendly face. "The most powerful thing that happened to me in Vietnam was Bill Bryan's death," P.J. said. "He died while trying to help me. I think about him often, especially when I get down in the dumps for one reason or another. He is still an inspiration to me and always will be. Other than family matters, this weekend has to be the second-most important event of my life." May the name and memory of Bill Bryan live forever. Semper fidelis, my brother. Till we meet again. Ronnie D. Foster from McKinney is a Vietnam vet who is writing a book about the 17 young men from Collin County who died in the war in Vietnam. He can be reached at rdfoster66@msn.com. |
| BILL'S STORY PART II |
| Thank you Ronnie for allowing me to share your story on my site, and to Linda who sent me the story. |
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