PFC Moerris Dibble and SSgt Edward C Upner were squad members of a team led by Sgt. George J. Eisenberger on a ground combat missin in Binh Duong Province, South Vietnam on December 5, 1965.
The unit came under hostile fire from what was believed to be a Viet Cong encampment, and in the first burst of fire, the three ment were mortally wounded.When the unit was able to withdraw from the combat area, it was not possible to recover Dibble, Upner and Eisenberger.
When the enemy threat abated, the squad reentered the area in an attempt to find the bodies, but they were gone. It was generally believed that they were taken by the Viet Cong and proabrly buried, which was not at all an uncommon thinig to do. (Veterans noted that the Viet Cong also seemed to make it as hard as possible for the graves to be found.)
The three members of Company B are listed among the dead, but because their bodies were not recovered, they are also listed among the missing. Witnesses felt certain that the three died on the day their unit was hit. Other cases of the missing are not quite as clear, however. Many missing were known to have been aliveat last point of contact. Some were photographed as POWs. Others even wrote home from POW camps, never to be heard from again.
Since the war ended, thousanded, thousands of reports have been received that have convinced many authorities that hundreds of Americans remain alive in captivity in Southeast Asia. Perhaps Upner, Eisenberger and Dibble are not among them. But oone can imagine them proudly definding one last firebase for their freedom.
George Jo Buck Eisenberger Was An American Indian. |
