lest we forget

BROCK, HARRY GILES

Rank / Branch:

  • BOATSWAIN MATE 3RD CLASS, U.S. NAVY

Date Of Birth:

  • 1945-07-29

Country Of Loss:

  • SOUTH VIETNAM

Status:

  • BODY RETURNED

Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground:​

  • SWIFTBOAT

Other:

  • NOT MARRIED

Unit:

  • USNAVFORCE

Date Of Loss:

  • 1966-11-15

Loss Coordinates:

  • THUA THIEN (MOUTH OF HUE RIVER)

Catagory:

  • DROWN

Awards & Decorations:

  • SEE BIO

VETERAN HAGI0GRAPHY

  • BROCK, HARRY GILES, BW3, U.S. NAVY, ODESSA, ECTOR, TEXAS

AWARDS AND DECORATIONS

  • NAVY ACHIEVEMENT MEDAL, NATIONAL DEFENSE SERVICE MEDAL, VIETNAM SERVICE MEDAL, VIETNAM CROSS OF GALLANTRY WITH PALM, VIETNAM CAMPAIGN MEDAL

BIOGRAPHY

  • Harry was born in Hot Springs, Arkansas, the youngest son and child of Ona Laverne Gudgel and Harry Carson Brock. The family moved to Odessa in 1958 and Harry attended Odessa schools. last attending Odessa High School. His parents divorced in 1960 and he lived with an older sister. His father died in May 1964. He joined the U.S. Navy from Odessa, Texas in 1963.
  • He arrived in Vietnam in June 1966 and was assigned to PCF-77, PCFDIV-102, TF 115, which were Swift Boats, River Patrol Service. On November 15, 1966, PCF-77, the swift boat was at sea with seven men aboard. They were:
  • LTJG David G. Wilbourne, OIC BM1 Alma Twichell EN2 O'Neal GMG Hodson BM3 Harry Giles Brock RM3 Bruce Allan Timmons MRC Willy Scott Baker, passenger
  • As the boat was in the approaches to the mouth of the Hue River, reportedly searching for a crewman washed overboard from PCG-21 during a monsoon storm, it was overtaken by a 30-foot wave which flipped her bow-down, stern-up and sank her immediately. Three men, who were deck were trapped and lost at sea. The bodies of two men, Chief Petty Officer Baker and Petty Officer 3rd Class Brock, were recovered, Petty Officer 3rd Class Timmons' body was not.
  • Several days later, when divers attempted to located the wreckage. "The largest piece they found was a piece of 'rolled aluminum' not more than 18' in length. The boat had been ripped apart by the sea, the sandy bottom and during the course of the storm had been torn into small, unrecognizable pieces. The recovered aluminum piece looked as it had been rolled up, like newspaper, and then been polished silvery bright." As recalled by Anthony R. Taylor, LTJG, Officer in Charge PCF -16.
  • BM3 Brock was buried with full military honors in the Garden of Memories Cemetery in Tampa, Florida. He was survived by his mother and stepfather, Mr. and Mrs. Vern Shatto of Tampa, Florida, his sister Mrs. B.F. Boyce of Odessa; two brothers, Roland of Baton Rouge, Louisiana and Raymond of Palo Alto, California. He was also survived by his maternal grandmother Mrs. Alice Hays of Clarinda, Iowa.
  • His mother passed away May 3, 2005, in Fort Smith, Arkansas.
  • GARDEN OF MEMORIES CEMETERY, TAMPA, FLORIDA