lest we forget

CLAIBORNE, DELL ROSS

Rank / Branch:

GUNNER'S MATE G3, U.S. NAVY

Date Of Birth:

1945-05-25

Country Of Loss:

SOUTH VIETNAM

Status:

HOSTILE-FRAGMENT WOUNDS

Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground:

River Patrol Boat

Other:

RIVERBOAD 652

Unit:

TASK FORCE 116 USNFV

Date Of Loss:

1968-01-08

Loss Coordinates:

VINH LONG

Catagory:

BODY RETURNED

Awards & Decorations:

SEE BIO

VETERAN HAGI0GRAPHY

CLAIBORNE, DELL ROSS, GMG3, U.S. NAVY, SEMINOLE, GAINES COUNTY, TEXAS

AWARDS AND DECORATIONS

NAVY COMMENDATIONS MEDAL, WITH V DEVICE, PURPLE HEART, NATIONAL DEFENSE SERVICE MEDAL, VIETNAM SERVICE MDEAL, VIETNAM MILITARY MERIT MEDAL, VIETNAM CROSS OF GALLANTRY WITH PALM, VIETNAM CAMPAIGN MEDAL

BIOGRAPHY

Dell Ross Claiborne was born in Slayton, Lubbock County, Texas. He was the only child born to Joyce Loretta Clarkston and James Franklin Claiborne. His parents divorced before he was a year old and his father moved to California, remarried and had another family. His mother did as well. Dell lived with his mother and stepfather, William Horace Hancock. He started to school first in Seminole, Texas using the name of Dell Hancock, the family moved to Post, Texas where they lived until Dell was starting the 8th grade and the family returned to Seminole, where Dell began using his true name of Claiborne. He attended high school in Seminole through his sophomore year and dropped out and joined the Navy, January 15, 1965, in Hobbs, New Mexico. He married Barabara Thomson in Hawaii in 1966.
He was trained as a gunner's guns. He served on the USS Ponchatoula based in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. He began his tour in Vietnam on September 15, 1967, and was assigned to PBR-652 (Patrol Boat-River), River Section 523, River Division 53, Task Force 116, United States Naval Forces-Vietnam. The unit was patrolling and making contact with the enemy on the rivers and tributaries of the Delta. The Navy was in a joint operation with the 9th Infantry Division of the U. S. Army and the designation of the joint venture was "The Mobile Riverine Force."
On January 4, 1968, three PBR'S from River Section 534, were heading north on routine patrol of the Mang Thiit River about 13 miles north by southwest of the of Ving Long, when ambushed by a suspected company of Viet Cong. The enemy opened fire on all boats from both sides of the river simultaneously. The fire was extremely effective, and the initial volley was aimed at the coxswain plate and forward gun tubes. All three forward gunners were wounded in opening moments of the fire fight. The patrol boats retaliated but were unable to suppress the fire which included at one U.S. M-60 machine gun and one M-79 grenade launcher. The boats finally cleared the ambush area to extract the wounded by helicopters. A total of 4 PBR sailors received battle injuries. GMG3 Claiborne died four days later from a head wound when an enemy bullet pierced his helmet.
He was buried with full military honors in the National Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii. He was survived by his wife of Honolulu, Hawaii, his father of Pomona, California and his mother of Seminole, Texas.