Published: July 06, 2008 08:10 pm            

More details emerge on life, service of McDowell soldier

PRINCETON — A recent story about a mother’s dying wish to donate her son’s West Point dress uniform to the Those Who Served Museum in Princeton sparked additional interest at the museum along with generating additional information about the valor of the officer who wore it before giving his life for his country.

“We had a lot of people over at the museum through the week,” Bill Blankenship, secretary/treasurer of the museum said. “We had several children visit the museum during the week including an entire kindergarten class.”

The museum is located on the second floor of the Memorial Building in Princeton and is staffed by local veterans who volunteer to tell the story of their comrades. The museum is open from 10 a.m., to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Lt. David Lee Sackett, actually grew up in Keystone, and graduated from Welch High School in 1964, according to his childhood friend, Gary Dove of Northfork. “Although three years older than me, we were friends, and I think of him often,” Dove wrote in an e-mail message. “I have a picture of a chess tournament that was sponsored by the Recreation Department of Eastern Associated Coal in Keystone when I was growing up, and in the opening round, David and I played each other.”

Dove said he has a photograph of he and Sackett playing chess in the tournament. “I don’t remember how bad it was, but I remember he won the match,” Dove wrote.

Since the story appeared, several of Sackett’s classmates and friends have shared stories on the Welch High School web site (http://maroonwave.tripod.com/home.html). Bob Greene of Fort Wayne, Ind. did some additional research and posted his findings on the WHS web site, and asked if the things he found could be passed on to the museum officials to help tell Sackett’s story.

In brief, Sackett graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point on June 5, 1968 and was deployed the following summer to Vietnam as a first lieutenant with the 25th Infantry Division. Sackett was killed in action on Oct. 24, 1969, in the Ho Bo Woods area of Binh Duong Province. His mother, Dora Lee Sackett, kept his dress uniform in pristine condition in the years that passed after her son’s death, and asked that it be donated it to the Those Who Served Museum after her death. She died at age 90 on Feb. 12, and her caregiver, Priscilla Cecil carried out her dying wish.

Greene found a wealth of information about Sackett’s tour in Vietnam that had been compiled by Bruce “Sarge” Holzhauer (bhbim@webtv.net) and asked that his name be cited as the source for the information.

According to the information Holzhauer compiled, Sackett was cited for the Bronze Star on Sept. 21, 1969, for “heroism in connection with military operations against a hostile force.” He was serving as a platoon leader with Company A, 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry at the time of the action.

“While on a sweep of a village, Company A received word that a gunship had spotted an enemy soldier near the village,” according to the narrative provided by Holzhauer. “Immediately Lt. Sackett led his platoon to the suspected area. Arriving on the scene, Lt. Sackett spotted the muzzle of a rifle protruding from a hidden spider hole. Unhesitatingly, Lt. Sackett, with complete disregard for his own safety, rushed the emplacement and threw a hand grenade into the entrance, killing the three enemy occupants.”

Holzhauer also provided the text of a “Tropic Lightning News” story from Sept. 22, 1969, concerning an earlier experience Sackett had involving an enemy “spider hole.” According to the story, Sackett attempted to enter a tunnel that he believed was abandoned, but a North Vietnamese Army soldier grabbed him around the ankles and attempted to pull him into the tunnel system.

Three members of Sackett’s platoon saw what was happening and initiated “a tug-o-war that resulted in the rescue of the somewhat shaken platoon leader.” The platoon used grenades to clear the tunnel after saving their platoon leader.

Just four days later on Sept. 26, 1969, according to the narrative, Sackett and his platoon were on a reconnaissance mission. The company encountered a large enemy force, and “the lead element became pinned down by the intense hostile fire.”

The narrative states that Sackett “led four of his men forward through the enemy kill zone and swiftly destroyed the main enemy emplacements.” When he noticed that one of his men was wounded, Sackett “moved to his side and administered life saving first aid,” according to Holzhauer’s report. “His valorous actions contributed immeasurably to the defeat of the hostile force.”

Sackett received the Army Commendation Medal for heroism for his actions on Oct. 13, 1969, according to Holzhauer’s report. As he was moving his platoon to an ambush site, the platoon came under heavy fire. “Immediately, Lt. Sackett organized his men in a defensive position,” and although he was exposed to the enemy fire, “he moved from position to position, checking his men and directing their fire on the hostiles.”

On the afternoon of Oct. 24, 1969, Sackett and his platoon were among the troops of Company A that landed in Ho Bo Woods. Soon after they landed, they were met by sniper fire, but that was soon replaced by heavy fire. Sackett was wounded during the engagement, and the battalion commander came in his helicopter when the firing stopped to pick Sackett up. He died on the way to Pershing or Cu Chi.”

Sackett was awarded the Bronze Star for his actions that day. The citation indicated that Sackett and his platoon came under heavy fire from an enemy in well concealed bunker positions. “Immediately, Lt. Sackett led his men in an assault of an enemy bunker, silencing the enemy,” according to Holzhauer’s report. “As he was advancing on another bunker, Lt. Sackett was fatally wounded by enemy fire.”

Greene asked for this story of valor to be shared with the museum volunteers to provide a more complete record of Sackett’s service and sacrifice.

– Contact Bill Archer at barcher@bdtonline.com

        

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