Bruce served in the United States Army, PFC - E3 - Army Regular, 101st Airborne Division in PHUOC LONG, South Vietnam. His tour began on Dec 29, 1967 and he died on February 18, 1968.
Bruce was the first class of 67 graduate to die in Vietnam. We hung out that senior year in 67 and suddenly he was gone the next year. It deeply saddens me to think of a life that was cut short. He never got to be a father..grandfather...and thousands of others suffered the same fate. I think of Bruce whenever Memorial Day or even the Forth of July come around. So sad..
found this on a website for vietnam vets
A Note from The Virtual Wall
Second Lieutenant Richard Fox was one of four men lost by D Company, 1/506th Infantry, on 18 Feb 1968:
I didn't know Bruce well, but I have looked for and found his name on the California Vietnam Memorial wall in Capitol Park in Sacramento. It's a beautiful setting to visit and remember. . . .
Bruce sat behind me in home room for all four years... and drove me crazy!
I had heard that he was lost in Viet Nam, but never knew much else. I traveled to Washington, D.C. in 1986, and went to the Wall to look for Bruce's name. Sadly, I found it on Panel E, Line 5. According to info on the Virtual Wall, he was Airborne-qualified. Having worked on military installations for many years--along-side men and women of all branches of service--I have a real appreciation for all that that means.
He was too young, but I have to believe he lived and died with honor. I think he'd be proud to know that we still think about him.
After a game at Fremont High (I don’t recall the year or type of event or who won) we went across the street to a Pizza place. Music was playing from the jukebox and there were kids from Fremont High School already in the place. I’m guessing someone in our group must have had a school sweater or jacket on because we caught the attention of some of the Fremont High kids. After a while a Fremont girl (from a table with guys and girls) gets up and goes over to the jukebox. As I recall, Bruce says he’s going to go over to talk to her. I don’t remember who else Bruce and I were with but we advised Bruce that this appeared to be a local Fremont establishment and maybe it wasn’t such a good idea – especially since she had gotten up from a table of guys and girls from Fremont High. Bruce decided not to take our advice - I think it was more of an amusement factor (Bruce’s sense of humor) to rattle the Fremont High kids than it was any attraction for the girl but I don’t recall. It didn’t take long before they were visited by a guy from the Fremont table. Some words were exchanged (none of which appeared to be friendly but nothing too bad). Bruce came back to the table and when we finished eating we decided we should just mind our own business and leave – which we did under the watchful eyes of some of the Fremont guys. It was all quite innocent but we thought it was a pretty cool move (at the time we probably said crazy) on Bruce’s part. Innocent fun – no one was looking for trouble – just a little excitement. It’s been about 50 years since this event so this is my best recollection.
Bruce and I were friends (not best-friends or really even close friends) but we did meet-up at times at school (Sunnyvale High) and talked about whatever was on our minds and we went to a couple sports events together and enjoyed the friendship we had. During my career I had business in Washington D.C. a number of times so when I had spare time I would use it to see various monuments, museums, etc. so I have visited the Vietnam Veterans Memorial a couple of times and looked Bruce up to say hello and be reminded.
Malcolm High
Bruce was the first class of 67 graduate to die in Vietnam. We hung out that senior year in 67 and suddenly he was gone the next year. It deeply saddens me to think of a life that was cut short. He never got to be a father..grandfather...and thousands of others suffered the same fate. I think of Bruce whenever Memorial Day or even the Forth of July come around. So sad..
found this on a website for vietnam vets
A Note from The Virtual Wall
Second Lieutenant Richard Fox was one of four men lost by D Company, 1/506th Infantry, on 18 Feb 1968:George Martin (Martin)
Thanks Malcolm for your thoughtfullness. It sounds like Bruce was there less than three months. What can we say?
Robert Wissmath
I didn't know Bruce well, but I have looked for and found his name on the California Vietnam Memorial wall in Capitol Park in Sacramento. It's a beautiful setting to visit and remember. . . .Deborah Fletcher (Casey)
Bruce sat behind me in home room for all four years... and drove me crazy!
I had heard that he was lost in Viet Nam, but never knew much else. I traveled to Washington, D.C. in 1986, and went to the Wall to look for Bruce's name. Sadly, I found it on Panel E, Line 5. According to info on the Virtual Wall, he was Airborne-qualified. Having worked on military installations for many years--along-side men and women of all branches of service--I have a real appreciation for all that that means.
He was too young, but I have to believe he lived and died with honor. I think he'd be proud to know that we still think about him.
William (Drew) Beck
After a game at Fremont High (I don’t recall the year or type of event or who won) we went across the street to a Pizza place. Music was playing from the jukebox and there were kids from Fremont High School already in the place. I’m guessing someone in our group must have had a school sweater or jacket on because we caught the attention of some of the Fremont High kids. After a while a Fremont girl (from a table with guys and girls) gets up and goes over to the jukebox. As I recall, Bruce says he’s going to go over to talk to her. I don’t remember who else Bruce and I were with but we advised Bruce that this appeared to be a local Fremont establishment and maybe it wasn’t such a good idea – especially since she had gotten up from a table of guys and girls from Fremont High. Bruce decided not to take our advice - I think it was more of an amusement factor (Bruce’s sense of humor) to rattle the Fremont High kids than it was any attraction for the girl but I don’t recall. It didn’t take long before they were visited by a guy from the Fremont table. Some words were exchanged (none of which appeared to be friendly but nothing too bad). Bruce came back to the table and when we finished eating we decided we should just mind our own business and leave – which we did under the watchful eyes of some of the Fremont guys. It was all quite innocent but we thought it was a pretty cool move (at the time we probably said crazy) on Bruce’s part. Innocent fun – no one was looking for trouble – just a little excitement. It’s been about 50 years since this event so this is my best recollection.
Bruce and I were friends (not best-friends or really even close friends) but we did meet-up at times at school (Sunnyvale High) and talked about whatever was on our minds and we went to a couple sports events together and enjoyed the friendship we had. During my career I had business in Washington D.C. a number of times so when I had spare time I would use it to see various monuments, museums, etc. so I have visited the Vietnam Veterans Memorial a couple of times and looked Bruce up to say hello and be reminded.