Quote:
Originally Posted by HerdDoc
Does anyone on this board know who Leo Kryske was? I kind of doubt it but thought I would ask.
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"Last night I pulled up the website of the US Army Golden Knights Alumni. The Golden Knights are the Army's Elite Parachute Demonstration Team. I asked the President in an Email if he knew a guy named
Leo Kryske. These guys are all in their mid 70s or so now. He wrote back and said, yes, he did. He went on to tell me that Kryske had been killed in Nam. I wrote back to him and said, yes, I know, I was there. I was the medic that attempted to save his life.
Leo Kryske at the time of his death was rather famous in the Army for being a Golden Knight and a member of the Special Forces. He was in my unit in Vietnam, the 173rd Airborne Brigade.
Anyway, the team members knew Kryske had been killed but did not know the details. So, I have been going back and forth since last night with two of Kryske's former team members and explaining to them what had happened that day on August 25th, 1968. I remember that day because it is also my mom's birthday.
The attached photo is of Kryske the day he made his 2000th Freefall parachute jump. They sent this to me. Apparently all these guys were on his team. The guy on the far left is George, the guy I have been talking to. He was a platoon leader in my unit and his platoon had the highest kill count that year in Nam in the 506 valley and Ia Drang valleys.
I explained to him that we had climbed to the top of Hill 506 above the 506 valley with very little resistance. I think we killed two gooks on the way up and we did it quietly. They never knew we were there. We set up a fire support base on top of the mountain once we had secured it. Helicopters brought in artillery and various things like that and we dug in on top of the mountain. It was several days later that my platoon went out on a patrol and I had stayed behind on top of the hill because I could barely walk due to an infection I had gotten on my legs. Several of us were just "hanging out", sounds like todays teenagers. ha ha I heard the distinct sound of an AK-47 and the lead that comes from it's mouth. Leo went down as did we all but Leo did not get back up. He had taken a bullet through the head. We later found the sniper and arranged for him to take the big dirt nap beginning immediately."
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