DUBOIS COUNTY LIVING VETERAN Sgt Ray A. Brinkman US ARMY

 

After the mass, a ceremony honoring Sgt. Ray Brinkman will be held at The Dubois County VFW Post 673 located at 3131 Newton Street here in Jasper, IN from 1000 am until 1:00pm. The actual ceremony will be at 10:30 am followed by a light meal and fellowship in the Post Hall. The Public is invited and encouraged to attend. Sgt Raymond A. Brinkman (Ray) was drafted into the United States Army on October 1, 1968. His basic training, and Advanced Individual Training as an 11D20 (Armor Recon Specialist) was all completed at Fort Knox, KY prior to his leaving for assignment to The Republic of Vietnam. Sgt Brinkman served two years of Active Service in The US Army, and was honorably discharged on September 30, 1970. Ray served in Vietnam from March 17, 1969, until March 11, 1970. 

  

In Vietnam, Private First Class Brinkman was assigned to H Troop, 17 th Cavalry, 198th Infantry Brigade. Stated in “The Soldiers Medal Citation” Ray received for Heroism, then PFC Brinkman distinguished himself by his valorous actions” on April 11, 1969, while serving as a machine gunner with his unit. On this date, the troop was returning from operations near Landing Zone Buff (Republic of Vietnam), when the armored personnel carrier in which he was assigned, detonated a 200-pound enemy mine buried in their travel path. In the explosion, five crew members, including twenty-one-year- old Ray, were thrown from the vehicle. Another member of the crew was able to crawl free of the burning vehicle. Even though Ray was stunned by the impact of the explosion, he immediately began to search for his fellow soldiers and crew members. SP4 Gilbert Norton, the track commander, who had been riding on top of the vehicle, had fallen into the track’s belly upon the explosion. When PFC Brinkman could not locate his track commander, he returned on his own determination and peril to his own safety to the now flaming vehicle. The crew had been carrying a full combat load of ammunition, and the intense heat from the fire after the explosion of the mine, had caused some of the ammunition to begin to explode and fire in all directions. Disregarding his own personal safety, Ray boarded the vehicle, found his wounded and concussed track commander, and pulled him outside of the burning vehicle to safety just moments before the fuel tank and a fully loaded demolition kit exploded. This massive explosion of the vehicle, was strong enough to completely blow off the entire right side of the Armored personnel carrier in which they were operating. PFC Brinkman’s courageous actions were directly responsible for saving the life of his APC commander that fateful day in Vietnam. According to his Company Commander Captain Watts, “If it were not for Brinkman, that track commander would have been burned alive.” According to his Soldier’s Medal Commendation, “Brinkman’s personal heroism, professional competence, and devotion to duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service, and reflect great credit upon himself, the Americal Division, and the United States Army.”