Captain (Lt) Merrill Dale Reich, Jr.
5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), United States Army
Killed in Action: 27 May 1968

Memorials on the Web

  1. Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington D.C.

    Link to MERRILL DALE REICH JR

    MERRILL DALE REICH JR
     is honored on Panel 65W, Row 14 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

    Full Name: MERRILL DALE REICH JR
    Wall Name: MERRILL D REICH JR
    Date of Birth: 7/8/1944
    Date of Casualty: 5/27/1968
    Date of Death: 5/27/1968
    Home of Record: ATLANTA
    State: GA
    Branch of Service: ARMY
    Rank: 1LT
    Casualty Country: SOUTH VIETNAM
    Casualty Province: KHANH HOA

  2. Memorials posted on Dale Reich's page at Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund website:

  3. www.TheSpecialForce.com/Troops/reich_d.htm

    Dale Reich, CPT.

    Info from TJRUsure@aol.com

    CPT Dale Reich was born in Atlanta, Georgia on July 8, 1944. He graduated from Grady High School in 1962, where he was captain of the football team. He attended the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee, playing football all four years, and graduated in Jun 1966. Dale voluntarily entered the United States Army that summer, completing basic training at Fort Dix, New Jersey, and the Officer's Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia. Upon receiving his commission, he was assigned to the 7th Special Forces at Fort Brag, North Carolina.

    CPT Reich received orders for Vietnam and joined the 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne) in May 1968. On May 27, 1968 while providing security for the right flank of an ambush operation, CPT Reich observed the point squad of a large North Vietnamese Army force stalking his unit's position. Realizing that the proximity of the rapidly approaching enemy force prevented enough time for a warning, CPT Reich leaped up and engaged the insurgents at point blank range, inflicting severe casualties. Although severely wounded himself, and in the face of intense rocket and machine gun fire, CPT Reich held his position and continued to fire into the advancing enemy main force, allowing the thirteen other Americans enough time to reorganize and shift positions to counter the surprise attack. CPT Reich fought tenaciously until mortally wounded, inspiring his fellow soldiers to smash the numerically superior enemy's advance and drive it back.

    For his gallantry in action, at the cost of his life, CPT Reich was awarded the Silver Star.

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Info from CSM Reg Mannings: Special Forces Personnel Killed in SEA

    1968 05 27 O-2 1LT Merrill D. Reich, Jr. 31542 KIA SVN; B-52,
    Recondo School Trainee, during night ambush patrol, Khanh Hoa Prov

  4. Atlanta Vietnam Veterans Business Association

    Atlanta Vietnam Veterans Business Association
    1996 Memorial page
    First Union Plaza, Atlanta GA

    Text from the above site:

    "The Silver Star was awarded to Captain Merrill Dale Reich, Jr., 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), United States Army.

    CPT Dale Reich was born in Atlanta, Georgia on July 8, 1944. He graduated from Grady High School in 1962, where he was captain of the football team. He attended the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee, playing football all four years, and graduated in Jun 1966. Dale voluntarily entered the United States Army that summer, completing basic training at Fort Dix, New Jersey, and the Officer's Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia. Upon receiving his commission, he was assigned to the 7th Special Forces at Fort Brag, North Carolina.

    CPT Reich received orders for Vietnam and joined the 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne) in May 1968. On May 27, 1968 while providing security for the right flank of an ambush operation, CPT Reich observed the point squad of a large North Vietnamese Army force stalking his unit's position. Realizing that the proximity of the rapidly approaching enemy force prevented enough time for a warning, CPT Reich leaped up and engaged the insurgents at point blank range, inflicting severe casualties. Although severely wounded himself, and in the face of intense rocket and machine gun fire, CPT Reich held his position and continued to fire into the advancing enemy main force, allowing the thirteen other Americans enough time to reorganize and shift positions to counter the surprise attack. CPT Reich fought tenaciously until mortally wounded, inspiring his fellow soldiers to smash the numerically superior enemy's advance and drive it back.

    For his gallantry in action, at the cost of his life, CPT Reich was awarded the Silver Star. His courage and devotion to duty was in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflects great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army."

  5. Sewanee, The University of the South
    Need Based Scholarships and Grants
    http://www2.sewanee.edu/scholarships/need_based_scholarships_grant_loan

    Merrill Dale Reich Scholarship. Given by the Sewanee Club of Atlanta, friends, classmates and teammates in memory of Lieutenant Reich, Class of 1966, killed in Vietnam. The recipient is selected by the Sewanee Club from nominations of the Committee on Scholarships. Awards are made on the basis of demonstrated financial need.

  6. United States Army Special Forces, Detachment A-502, "Never Forgotten"
    http://www.therossjewelrycompany.com/never.html

    United Sates Army Special Forces
    Detachment A-502
    Never Forgotten

    While the men of A-502 and the units they advised were responsible for more enemy kills than the entire 4th Corps during one six month period, they did not escape casualty free. Four American Special Forces soldiers were lost in combat at A-502 between 1964 and 1970. The names of men killed in action at A-502 are listed below. To see the citation for each of these brave men, please click on his name. You can visit one of the Vietnam Wall sites by clicking on the "Reflections" picture at the top of the page. The touching rendering was done by Lee Teter and is available at art stores throughout the country.

  7. Bruce Mulkey Website

    Honoring the fallen and seeking forgiveness Filed under: My personal path by Bruce

    "I walked along that long black wall, crying in the rain.
    For all those men who’ve touched our lives, we’ll never see again."

    Catherine Anne McNeil

    I was walking toward the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., a few years ago when I spotted it. I knew I would make my pilgrimage to the Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial one day. I just didn’t know it would be today. But, to my surprise, there it was—The Wall, the black granite monument inscribed with the names of the 58,178 American men and women who died in the Vietnam War.

    I am one of those who stood against this war, one of my generation who refused to serve, one who believed the war was wrong. In my youthful impertinence, I rebuked the politicians and generals who led us down this slippery slope. If LBJ or Tricky Dick wanted a war, I thought, let them go over there and mud wrestle with Uncle Ho one-on-one, winner take all. To paraphrase Muhammad Ali, ain’t no Viet Cong ever called me honkie. But the truth is, I also scorned the men and women who served in Vietnam. And while I make no apology for my stance for peace, on this spring day I knew it was time to atone for my lack of respect and unloving behavior toward our servicemen and servicewomen who had done the best they could do in a difficult situation.

    The first name I searched for on The Wall was that of Kenneth Kirkes, my classmate and football teammate at Tullahoma (Tennessee) High School in the early ’60s. Kenneth Lee Kirkes, Marine Corps, Second Lieutenant, born on October 8, 1944. His tour of duty began on December 11, 1967. He was killed by hostile small arms fire on February 9, 1968.

    Kenneth and I, along with a few of our friends, had been involved in the Ketchup Corpse Caper that folks still talk about in our little hometown of Tullahoma, Tennessee. As a teenage prank, one of our group got in the trunk of a ’53 Chevy and draped his arm over the rear bumper. The rest of us poured ketchup on the protruding arm, and we proceeded to local service stations where we asked to borrow a shovel. We got the reaction we expected from the service station attendants; what we didn’t anticipate was the long arm of the law. City, county, and state law enforcement officials responded in force, and though most everyone else thought the whole thing was hilarious, we were charged with impersonating a corpse. At our trial we received a severe tongue-lashing and a veiled threat of being shipped to the state reform school for boys.

    When I found Kenneth’s name on The Wall, I traced it with my fingers. I remembered our times together, and the fact that he was his parents’ only son. In deep remorse, I kneeled, shut my eyes, and brought him into my consciousness. As tears of regret and sorrow streamed down my face, I admitted my transgressions and pleaded for his forgiveness.

    Next I found the name of Dale Reich, my college classmate and football teammate at the University of the South at Sewanee, Tennessee. I still remember Dale’s rousing rendition of the Rolling Stones “Get Off of My Cloud” as we celebrated winning the last game of our final football season at Sewanee, a season in which we suffered only one loss. Dale was not large physically, but pound-for-pound he was arguably the toughest guy on the team.

    I found Dale’s name on panel 65W: Merrill Dale Reich Jr., Army, First Lieutenant, born on July 8, 1944. His Vietnam tour began on May 15, 1968, and ended when he was killed by hostile small arms fire on May 27, 1968. Twelve days after his arrival in Vietnam, Dale was dead.

    I brought Dale into my mind’s eye and asked him too to forgive me. And then I expanded my prayer for forgiveness to all of the men and women whose names were on that wall and to all of those who had served in the Vietnam War. My load had lightened, but the most challenging step was still to come. Now it was time to forgive myself.

    Saturday, May 13th, 2000

  8. CSM (Ret) Reg Manning's Discussion Board of Special Forces Personnel Killed in in South East Asia

    Dear CSM Manning, Thank you for your work on this site. I am seeking info on 1LT Merrill Dale Reich, 5th SFG, KIA 27 May 1968 RSVN. Dale is my wife Karen's beloved first cousin and was KIA on patrol in third week of MACV Recondo School.
    John Walker ( walkej01@unisourcelink.com )
    Smyrna, GA USA - Monday, October 25, 2004 at 10:36:27 (PDT)

    site by: michael s. parks (email parks@uh.edu)
    last updated: Sept 2018