lest we forget

STANDEFER, JAMES GLENN

Rank / Branch:

SERGEANT, U.S. ARMY

Date Of Birth:

1948-07-07

Country Of Loss:

SOUTH VIETNAM

Status:

HOSTILE AIR CRASH

Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground:

UH-1H BELL HELICOPTER

Other:

DIVORCED

Unit:

FOURTH DIVISION

Date Of Loss:

1968-02-18

Loss Coordinates:

QUANG NAM

Catagory:

BODY RETURNED

Awards & Decorations:

SEE BIO

VETERAN HAGI0GRAPHY

STANDEFER, JAMES GLENN, SERGEANT, U.S. ARMY, COLORADO CITY, MITCHELL, TEXAS

AWARDS AND DECORATIONS

COMBAT INFANTRYMANS BADGE, SILVER STAR, BRONZE STAR WITH V DEVICE, PURPLE HEART, AIR MEDAL, ARMY COMMENDATIONS MEDAL WITH V DEVICE, NATIONAL DEFENSE SERVICE MEDAL, KOREAN SERVICE MEDAL, VIETNAM SERVICE MEDAL, VIETNAM CROSS OF GALLANTRY WITH PALM, VIETNAM CAMPAIGN MEDAL

BIOGRAPHY

James Glenn Standefer was born in Stanton, Martin County, Texas to Virginia L. Henderson Standefer and Morris G. Standefer. He was known as Glenn to his family. His parents divorced and the family moved to Colorado City, Texas, where he and his siblings were raised by their mother and their grandparents, the Eual Hendersons. Glenn has two younger sisters, Kathy and Dianne; and a younger brother, Terry. His mother worked as a lab tech in the Colorado City Family Clinic. His mother married Jack Strain of Colorado City.
He attended the Colorado City schools and graduated from Colorado City High School, Class of 66. He played football in high school and he loved to fish and hunt. While in high school he worked for his grandfather. His father was killed in a car accident before he joined the Army. Glenn married Jo Anne Wallace of Colorado City, his junior year in high school and was the father of a son, James Brittain. He and Jo Anne divorced in 1966 and Glenn enlisted in the Army from high school.
He completed basic training at Fort Bliss, Texas and infantry AIT at Fort Polk, Louisiana. He started his tour in Vietnam on April 4, 1967.
He was assigned to C Company, 1st Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division. He was a good soldier and loved his job. He was often on point. He chose to carry an M-14 because of its fire power. It was larger than the M-16 which was becoming the standard light weapon in Vietnam. Information received from a fellow soldier who served with him, "Standefer was an excellent shot and could put three rounds in a tight shot group up to 1000 meters away." He was dark reddish brown-haired guy. He was 5 feet 8 inches tall, about 170 lbs. and was very stocky.
According to the company medic, Joe Calhoun, "On one occasion, the company was humping down through a thick canopy of brush and trees on the side of a fairly steep hill one morning, approaching a river approximately 50 feet wide and very deep with a good current. It was very clear sunny morning, and we did not know what was up ahead and the elephant grass was too tall to see over. Out of the blue, there was one loud gunshot, and everyone dropped for cover due to not knowing where the shot was fired. Word came down it was friendly fire, from our side and not the enemy. As I approached the river, Standefer was on the edge of the shore. He had been on point when he came to the river and saw a V.C. on the other side with a weapon. Before the V.C. could fire a shot, Standefer dropped him with a shot through the neck."
Another time, the whole platoon was pinned down by a sniper upon a high rounded hill beside a grass hooch. I remember there was a tall banana tree beside the hooch. There was a ravine running behind the hooch and down the backside of the hill. Standefer moved along and up the ravine. We actually did not know where the sniper rounds were coming from in the beginning, but Standefer took it upon himself to go up the ravine and work around behind the hooch and came up behind the hooch. He caught the sniper firing at us from up on the hill. He slipped up and dropped the V.C. with a single shot."
Standefer was an excellent soldier and loved being in the field. During the TET offensive and weeks after, the 14th Infantry regiment was involved in some heavy combat. On February 18, 1968, the company combat assaulted into a landing zone protected by two other companies, who were commanding high ground in the vicinity of the LZ. During the pick-up of the next to last lift, the helicopter in which Sgt Standefer was a passenger received ground fire from the flat area across the river to the north. The helicopter had the normal crew of four, plus three other Company C personnel. The aircraft was about 1,500 feet high, when 50 caliber rounds from the ground struck the helicopter in several places to include the main rotor assembly. The helicopter crashed and burned. All aboard perished.
Sergeant James Glenn Standefer was buried with full military honors in Colorado City, Texas. He was survived by his mother and stepfather and his grandparents and his brothers and sisters, his ex-wife and his son.
In a ceremony at the Colorado City Civic Center in May 1968, Glenn's mother was presented the Silver Star which Glenn had been awarded for saving several men's lives during an operation on February 7, 2009. The mother was also presented with his other medals which included the Bronze Star with V device and Oakleaf cluster, one for meritorious service and an Army Commendation's Medal with V device. Mrs. Strain was also presented the Vietnam Cross of Gallantry with Palm and the Vietnam Military Merit Medal and the Korean Service Expeditionary Medal.
Glenn's mother died in 1977 and his ex-wife, the love of his life died March 4, 1998. His sister Kathy married Robert Benson; his sister Dianne Standefer Cash is divorced and lives in Ashdown, Arkansas. His brother Terry lives in Austin and is married to Dianne. Glenn's son James Britian is the father of three children, and he lives near Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The grandchildren are James Brady Standefer and he attends Tarleton State University in Stephenville, Texas; Laci Standefer attends high school in Snyder, Texas and Brittany Stephenville lives in Stephenville, Texas.