lest we forget

GONZALES, MANUEL MARTINEZ

Rank / Branch:

CORPORAL (POSTHUMOUS), U. S. ARMY

Date Of Birth:

1947-04-15

Country Of Loss:

SOUTH VIETNAM

Status:

HOSTILE FRAGMENT WOUNDS

Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground:

GROUND

Other:

NOT MARRIED

Unit:

FIRST CAVALRY DIVISION

Date Of Loss:

1967-12-19

Loss Coordinates:

BINH DINH

Catagory:

BODY RETURNED

Awards & Decorations:

SEE BIO

VETERAN HAGI0GRAPHY

GONZALES, MANUEL MARTINEZ, CORPORAL, U. S. ARMY, PECOS, REEVES COUNTY, TEXAS

AWARDS AND DECORATIONS

COMBAT INFANTRYMANS BADGE PURPLE HEART, NATIONAL DEFENSE SERVICE MEDAL, VIETNAM SERVICE MEDAL, VETNAM CROSS OF GALLANTRY WITH PALM, VIETNAM CAMPAIGN MEDAL e, Purple National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Vietnam Campaign Medal

BIOGRAPHY

Manual Martinez Gonzales was born in Pecos, Texas, the fifth of eleven children born to Brijido Franco Gonzalez and Nacarcisa Martinez Gonzalez. He attended Pecos schools. He last attended in 1964. He was drafted and entered the service in the fall of 1966.
He did basic at Fort Bliss and infantry training at Fort Hood, Texas. One of his friends was Emilio G. Garcia of Barstow. (See Emilio Garcia*). Both were inducted together, were together in basic and AIT and both assigned to the 1st Bn, 50th Infantry at Fort Hood. He was assigned as an infantryman with Company B, 1st Battalion, 50th Mechanized Infantry, 1st Cavalry Division while stateside at Fort Hood. His unit mobilized to Vietnam on September 9, 1967, by ship.
He arrived in Vietnam in late September 1967. His unit was immediately thrown into heavy combat. On December 6, 1967, his unit became involved in what became known as the Battle of Tam Quam which was a hamlet about 15 miles north of Saigon. This fight was a running battle which continued until December 20, 1967. On December 10, 1967, during the most intensive fighting, PFC Gonzales and 17 others, along with many others wounded from three companies of the First Cavalry Division, were killed in heavy fighting. PFC Gonzales died when the APC in which he was manning was hit by an RPG. This battle resulted in the destruction of the 22nd North Vietnamese Regiment as a fighting force.
Manual Martinez Gonzales was buried with full military honors in the Santa Rosa Cemetery in Pecos, Texas. He received a posthumous promotion to Corporal. He was survived by his parents and his 10 brothers and sisters.
His parents are now deceased, his mother passed away in 1979 and his father in 1982. They are both buried in the Evergreen Cemetery in Pecos. His older sisters-Narcisa and Jesuia are both deceased. His older brother Cipriano lives in Odessa, his older sister Cindy Gonzalez Wallace lives in Baytown, his brother Carlos lives in Pecos, sister, Andrea Gonzalez Maddox lives in Odessa, sister Pauline Gonzalez Jacoby lives Odessa, sister Adela lives in Alabama; brother Jose lives in Odessa and his sister Toni lives in Midland.
*Cpl. Emilio G. Garcia of Barston was killed in Vietnam January 23, 1968. He had written a letter home telling about his thoughts on Manual before his death.