Second Lieutenant Randall Douglas Yeary
United States Marine Corps
Date of Birth: October 26, 1942
Home of Record: Kingsport, Tennessee
Rank/Branch: 2LT, USMC
Date KIA: January 14, 1968
Casualty Province: Quang Tri, South Vietnam
Vietnam Veterans Memorial: Panel 34E, Line 48
Lt Yeary, who entered the U.S. Marine Corps in March on 1967, graduated in 1961 from Ketron High School and in 1965 from East Tennessee State University. He was killed in an explosion in a militarized zone in Vietnam, while he was on patrol. He was married to Louise Carty and father of Laura Lee Yeary.
Service and Sacrifice
Hill 881 South was one of the key hill positions near Khe Sanh, occupied to deny the enemy observation and firing positions over the combat base. On January 14, 1968, 2LT Yeary led a reconnaissance patrol back toward friendly lines after several days in the jungle.
Hill 881 South was one of several hill masses north of the Khe Sanh Combat Base (KSCB) in northwest Quang Tri Province. To prevent North Vietnamese Army observation of KSCB and the possible use as of the peaks as firebases, the hills surrounding Khe Sanh Valley had to be continuously occupied and defended by Marine elements. On the afternoon of January 14, 1968, 2LT Randall D. Yeary led a reconnaissance patrol towards friendly lines on Hill 881 South after four days in the jungle. As the patrol moved down the south slope of Hill 881 North, one kilometer from their destination, the North Vietnamese caught them in an ambush. In the opening shots of the fight, a rocket-propelled grenade round killed Yeary and CPL Richard J. Healy. The six remaining men in the patrol, heavily outgunned and all but two wounded, withdrew, leaving their comrade’s bodies behind. Nearby, under heavy fire, helicopters extracted the survivors. A platoon from Company I, 3rd Battalion, 26th Marines searched the area later and recovered the bodies. “U.S. Marines in Vietnam: The Defining Year, 1968” by Shulimson
Reflection
Leadership in war isn’t a speech.
It’s a direction, a compass point, a person moving first when the route is uncertain.
Today we honor Second Lieutenant Randall Douglas Yeary, USMC, for leading from the front, and for the sacrifice he made in Quang Tri Province on January 14, 1968.
Coolbeaners Appreciation
At mickyspano.com/, we honor the men and women who stepped forward when our nation called.
Today, The Micky Spano Show recognizes Second Lieutenant Randall Douglas Yeary, United States Marine Corps, killed in action January 14, 1968, and remembered on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial at Panel 34E, Line 48.
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