lest we forget

WATSON, GARY EUGENE

Rank / Branch:

  • SPECIALIST FOURTH CLASS, U.S. ARMY

Date Of Birth:

  • 1944-03-18

Country Of Loss:

  • SOUTH VIETNAM

Status:

  • HOSTILE, MULTIPLE FRAGMENT WOUNDS

Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground:​

  • GROUND

Other:

  • NOT MARRIED

Unit:

  • 4TH DIVISION

Date Of Loss:

  • 1968-04-03

Loss Coordinates:

  • KONTUM

Catagory:

  • BODY RETURNED

Awards & Decorations:

  • SEE BIO

VETERAN HAGI0GRAPHY

  • WATSON, GARY EUGENE, SPECIALIST FOURTH CLASS, MIDLAND, MIDLAND COUNTY, TEXAS

AWARDS AND DECORATIONS

  • COMBAT INFANTRYMANS BADGE, BRONZE STAR, PURPLE HEART, NATIONAL DEFENSE SERVICE MEDAL, VIETNAM SERVICE MEDAL, VIETNAM MILITARY MERIT MEDAL, VIETNAM CROSS OF GALLANTRY WITH PALM, VIETNAM CAMPAIGN MEDAL

BIOGRAPHY

  • Gary Eugene Watson was born in Altus, Jackson County, Oklahoma to Doris Ford and Willard Eugene Watson. His family moved to Midland in 1955, and Gary attended Midland schools and graduated from Midland Lee High School in 1962. Gary attended the University of Texas in Austin for two years but had not completed his degree, he returned to Midland and obtained his associate's degree from Odessa College in the summer of 1966. He was drafted into the Army in early 1967. He had planned to complete his degree when he had completed his military obligation.
  • He completed basic training at Fort Bliss, Texas, then completed AIT at Fort Polk, Louisiana. He departed for his tour in Vietnam on July 25, 1967. He was assigned as an infantryman to D Company, 2nd Battalion, 35th Infantry Regiment. The 35th Regiment had been under the operational control of the 25th Infantry Division until December 1967 and the Regiment was moved to the operational control of the 4th Division. The 35th Infantry Regiment operated in the central highlands near the Cambodian border.
  • During the period of March 30, 1968, until April 6, 1968, the men of the 2nd Battalion, 35th Infantry, were involved in a series of fights in the vicinity of Hill 1062 in the Kontum Province. On April 1, 1968, D Company 2/35 Infantry was airlifted into an area near Hill 1062, northwest of the fire base at Polei Keleng, where enemy contact had previously been made. D/2/35 received mortar and sporadic small arms fire and was withdrawn to allow air and artillery strikes. On April 3, 1968, Companies C and D/2/35 were inserted with the intention of clearing the Hill 1062 ridgeline. However, D Company walked directly into an NVA ambush. Gary was killed immediately by multiple fragment wounds from a mortar or RPG round as he and another soldier were up front walking point. He was in the first squad and the first squad was the lead element. Two other soldiers also died, and 3 others were wounded from Company D. Over the next three days, the three companies of 2/35 slugged it out until the NVA abandoned the hill. It was the site of a large NVA hospital complex. In the three-day battle, 12 soldiers of 2/35 perished and over 30 were wounded.
  • Gary was buried with full military honors at the Fairview Cemetery in Midland, Texas. He was survived by his parents and his sister, Vicki L of the home. His parents moved to Odessa in 1972 to live closer to Gary's sister, Vickie Ellis. Mr. Watson died in 1981 and had retired as a foreman with Borden Milk Company. Mrs. Watson died in 1996 and both are buried at Sunset Memorial Garden's Cemetery in Odessa.
  • ODESSA COLLEGE 1965
  • FAIRVIEW CEMETERY, MIDLAND, TEXAS