lest we forget

MUNOZ, DOMINGO

Rank / Branch:

SERGEANT, U.S. ARMY

Date Of Birth:

1945-05-05

Country Of Loss:

SOUTH VIETNAM

Status:

HOSTILE-EXPLOSIVE DEVICE

Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground:

GROUND

Other:

COMBAT INFANTRYMAN'S BADGE, PARACHUTE WINGS, BRONZE STAR, PURPLE HEART, NAVY GOOD CONDUCT MEDAL, NATIONAL DEFENSE SERVICE MEDAL, VIETNAM SERVICE MEDAL, VIETNAM MILITARY MERIT MEDAL, VIETNAM CROSS OF GALLANTRY WITH PALM, VIETNAM CAMPAIGN MEDALietnam Service Medal, Vietnam Campaign Medal, Vietnam Military Merit Medal

Unit:

101ST AIRBORNE DIVISION

Date Of Loss:

1967-07-28

Loss Coordinates:

QUANG NGAI

Catagory:

BODY RETURNED

Awards & Decorations:

SEE BIO

VETERAN HAGI0GRAPHY

MUNOZ, DOMINGO, SERGEANT, U.S. ARMY

AWARDS AND DECORATIONS

COMBAT INFANTRYMAN'S BADGE, PARACHUTE WINGS, BRONZE STAR, PURPLE HEART, NAVY AND ARMY GOOD CONDUCT MEDALS, NATIONAL DEFENSE SERVICE MEDAL, VIETNAM SERVICE MEDAL, VIETNAM MILITARY MERIT MEDAL, VIETNAM CROSS OF GALLANTRY WITH PALM, VIETNAM CAMPAIGN MEDAL

BIOGRAPHY

Domingo Munoz was born in Lamesa, Texas, the second child and oldest son of nine children born to Mr. and Mrs. Candelario Munoz. The family moved Odessa in 1952 and Mr. Munoz was employed as a cook. He was raised in Odessa and attended Odessa schools, last attending Odessa High. He dropped out of high school after he turned 17 and with parental consent, he joined the U.S. Navy.
He completed his recruit training at the Naval Recruit Training Center in San Diego, California. He spent two years in the Navy. He had served a tour aboard a ship in Vietnam, and he felt that he wanted to be where the actual combat was taking place. After his separation from the Navy, he remained in the Naval Reserves. After many requests, as he still had his reserve time with the Navy, he received a joint service transfer from the U.S. Navy to the Army and volunteered for infantry training. He completed infantry AIT training at Fort Polk, Louisiana and parachute training at Fort Benning, Georgia. He was assigned to the 82nd Airborne at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He was first assigned to clerical duties. He married Mary Ramirez of Odessa while home on leave in early 1966. He volunteered for Vietnam on three separate occasions and was finally approved. Before he departed for Vietnam, his wife and he were expecting their first child. He departed for his Vietnam tour with the U.S. Army on October 9, 1966.
He was assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. He was assigned to Battalion supply and kept volunteering for the field. His son, Domingo Jr., was born in February 1967. He finally was recruited as a part of the "Tiger Force." During the period from November of 1966 until September 1967 in the area of operation for the 101st Airborne in the Quan Ngai Province, it was felt that the V.C. was embedding with the local populations in the hundreds of strings of small villages and hamlets throughout the province. A command decision was made to de-populate these hamlets and relocate the villagers to areas closer to the coast and destroy these villages in order to reduce the V.C.'s ability to hide and subsist with the population. The Tiger Force was a company sized unit under the 1st Battalion designated to handle this chore. They operated outside the normal chain of command, and they would be helicoptered into an area to do search and destroy and would round up the civilians for relocation. It was not a duty that many of the soldiers relished. When Domingo first and was there a short time when he contracted malaria and was hospitalized. In one of his last letters home. He told his wife that he was in the field fighting again.
On July 28, 1967, his unit was in the field, and they were on a night defensive area in a valley, when the V.C. began to roll and throw grenades into their NDP. Sgt Munoz was killed by a hand grenade blast.
He was buried with full military honors in the Ector County Cemetey in Odessa, Texas with full military honors. He was survived by his wife, Mary and his son, Domingo Munoz, Jr. He was also survived by his parents, his sister, Mrs. Omar Barriga, Mrs. Sammy Cruz and Louise Munoz. He was also survived by his brothers, Jesse, Frank, Ernie, Roy and Paul all of the home.