lest we forget

EATON, BOBBY LYNN

Rank / Branch:

  • LANCE CORPORAL, U.S. MARINE CORP

Date Of Birth:

  • 1947-06-06

Country Of Loss:

  • SOUTH VIETNAM

Status:

  • HOSTILE-EXPLOSIVE DEVICE

Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground:​

  • GROUND

Other:

  • NOT MARRIED

Unit:

  • THIRD MARINE DIVISION

Date Of Loss:

  • 1966-08-07

Loss Coordinates:

  • QUANG NAM

Catagory:

  • BODY RETURNED

Awards & Decorations:

  • SEE BIO

VETERAN HAGI0GRAPHY

  • EATON, BOBBY LYNN, U.S. MARINE CORP, ODESSA, ECTOR, TEXAS

AWARDS AND DECORATIONS

  • PURPLE HEART, NATIONAL DEFENSE SERVICE MEDAL, VIETNAM SERVICE MEDAL, VIETNAM CROSS OF GALLANTRY WITH PALM, VIETNAM CAMPAIGN MEDAL, MARINE CORP COMBAT ACTION RIBBON

BIOGRAPHY

  • Bobby was born on March 6, 1947, in Kermit, Texas. He was the second of four boys, older brother Gerald and twin younger brothers, Barry and Larry born to Mr. and Mrs. Marvin Eaton. The family moved to Snyder, Texas from Kermit where Bobby went to school until the family moved to Odessa in 1961 when Bobby was in the 8th grade. Bobby went to Bowie Junior High School and then went to Permian High School. While at Permian, he played trombone in the Panther Marching and Concert Bands. Bobby graduated in May 1965 and promptly enlisted in the U. S. Marine Corp. Bobby completed boot camp at the Marine Recruit Depot, San Diego, California and Advanced Infantry Training at Camp Pendleton, California. He received orders for Vietnam when he completed ITR but was delayed to illness.
  • Bobby departed for Vietnam in March 1966, where he was assigned to I Company, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marines Regiment, 3rd Marine Division.
  • From fellow marines who served with in Vietnam, Tom Mosher of San Diego, California, "When we got to the unit in March 1966, we were at Hill 55 which is south of Danang, and the unit had been there since January 1966. In May 1966, the unit moved to provide security to the Marine Air Base at Danang during the Buddhist riots. In July 1966, the unit moved out into the country to Hill 21 about 10 miles southwest of Danang to patrol and make contact with the enemy." The C.P. for the unit was on Hill 22. It was here on Hill 21, on August 7, 1966, that Bobby's squad was going on a routine night patrol. Ned Borlaug, a fellow marine who now lives in Redding, California, stated he was in Bobby's squad. Bobby and about three or four others had been together since March 1966. Ned stated he usually walked point on these patrols, but he was detailed for listening point duty that night. He stated another guy walked point.
  • Tom Mosher stated he could still see Mike Tripp, Bobby and himself sitting in the bunker not one hour before the patrol and they were helping Bobby clean his M-14 magazines. He stated that Bobby was talking about showing this FNG (military for F----- New Guy or politically correct Funny New Guy) how to walk point. It was a night patrol and as the patrol moved out Bobby was walking just behind the new guy. About 45 minutes into the patrol, another friend of Bobby's. Jim Bell of Mosinee, Wisconsin stated, "the explosion occurred, everyone went down." He further stated it had to be the lead person who set it off. He didn't think it was Bobby as Bobby would have been behind the new guy to critique him on the patrol. After the explosion, all hell broke loose, the call for "Corpsman" came and the lead guys in the patrol started calling for medevac over the net. Jim Bell indicated the marines were firing in all directions and he carried a thumper (M79 Grenade Launcher). He stated he fired off many rounds into the village nearby. As Jim recalls, the medevac would not come in because of the gunfire. Jim Bell, Tom Mosher and Ted Borlaug all stated that they thought the new guy was wounded also. In a few weeks, the unit was moved out of Vietnam back to Okinawa and the new guy was gone.
  • According to Jim Bell, the booby trap was a grenade with a trip wire and it was strung near a canal across the paddy. Bobby was hit by the blast which would suggest that he was next in line as the grenade probably still had a delay fuse system. When it went off, Bobby lost an arm and was blinded. The Corpsman worked over him furiously. It took the medevacs about 20 minutes to finally come in. Jim stated Bobby was barely alive when he was lifted out.
  • According to the Marine records, Bobby died in the evacuation hospital from his wounds.
  • Ned Borlung stated the next morning he was point for the squad and they moved into the same area. He stated he held up the squad at a point near the village and he went in by himself. He stated he saw a pant leg run behind a hooch. He stated he went to the other side of the hooch and found two North Vietnamese Officers that were gathered around the older peasants in the village. One was a paymaster, the other a high-ranking North Vietnamese Officer. He took them prisoner as they surprised them. They took them to an ARVN outpost a few miles away.
  • Ned stated that they always took the same trail past the village when they patrolled toward Laos. He stated the NVA were probably going to set up more booby traps in the area and he felt the North Vietnamese were alerted the villages about this. He stated we caught the people who killed Eaton the next day.
  • Ned, Jim and Tom all indicated that there is a reunion for 3/3 India every year. They read off the names on the Memorial. Bobby's name is among them. Bobby was quiet, intelligent, dependable, and innocent. "We all took his death personally."
  • According to Bobby's parents quote in the Odessa American, Tuesday, August 9, 1966, Section 1-B, Bobby wanted to make a career of the Marine Corp. He didn't have a special girl; he was just an All-American boy.
  • MEMORIAL, BOBBY CLASS OF 1965 PERMIAN HIGH SCHOOL