173d Image of the Month - Corregidor

Robert Lee Owens, B/1/503, B/3/503*
Ivan Kimokeo Pascal, C/3/503
“My brother Kimo was a very special person.
He was loved and missed by all his family and friends.
I will always love and miss him for he was more than
a brother to me. He was like a father that I never
had. I miss you Kimo, life for me has never been the
same since you've been gone. I know things would
have been much different if you were here.
God Bless you and I love you.”
Your Sister Kathy
Elbert Darrell Poff, D/2/503
“Darrell was my friend. Darrell and I met at
the REPODEPO of the 173rd at An Khe, we became
good friends. He loved his big Bowie knife that he
carried and he talked often of an Edsel he had at home
in West Virginia. We stayed together until his death.
In the 1st Platoon of Delta Co, 2nd/503rd ABN INF,
173rd ABN BDE (SEP). Darrell was quiet and
dedicated. He was also a hero in the truest sense of
the word. On 5 May 68 in the Tiger Mountains, north
of Phu My, he was killed. While on a squad patrol,
humping down a dry streambed, looking for water to
fill up a lot of canteens and fatrats we were carrying,
we were ambushed by an NVA force of unknown size
with small arms and automatic weapons. Darrell and
another man (a new guy named Sch-ni-er or Sch-ri-ner)
had gone down a steep embankment when the firing
began. This new guy was hit at least twice in the
lower leg, and Darrell carried him in a fireman's carry,
under intense fire back up the embankment and placed
him in some boulders. I was the 60 gunner and laying
down covering fire and reconning by fire when my AG
Roger Metzler said Darrell said he was hit but OK. I
turned my head to look and he had been hit again.
The second was instantly fatal. His death was quick
and painless and his heroism was far and away above
the Silver Star he was awarded (posthumously). This
firefight began about 11AM and we were pinned down
taking more causaulties until after dark. Darrell was
truly one of the best soldiers I ever saw in the Nam.
But the most important thing about Darrell was that
he was a good friend.”
Robert Waters (M60 Gunner)
1st Plt., 2nd/503rd, 173rd Abn Bde (The Herd)
“My thanks to Robert Waters for his rememberance of
Darrell Poff. My name is Roy Arrington and Darrell
was one of my closest friends as we grew up in the
mountains of West Virginia. I remember when Darrell
fashioned his favorite Bowie knife and his pride in his
Edsel. Our fishing and hunting trips and all the other
adventures of growing up in a great place. It does not
surprise me that Darrell was seen as a good friend or
that he laid his life on the line to help another. This is
just the way he was. Darrell was quite an artist and
the world lost much that day in May 1968. Most of all
we lost a close and dear friend. Once again my thanks
to Robert for the account of Darrell’s last actions. It
added much to the citation that accompanied the
Silver Star. Our thanks to all that served…
never forget.” Roy L. Arrington, Friend
Stephen Wayne Quinn, D/1/503
“This is my memory of my buddy Steve, when as 18
year old soldiers we were in the same squad. He was a
fine soldier and very polite to all. Steve was fearless in
battle and carried his weight as well as anyone in the
bush. He wanted to be a machine gunner and got his
wish when our gunner Benny Thompson left for home.
Benny would always say things were OK when we
three were together. I got wounded March 3, 1968
and when I returned to the field after weeks of rehab I
was told that Benny and Quinn had left, with Steve
getting killed. I felt somewhat alone as we were a
team but lived to tell a story. His family should be very
proud of this soldier.
I will always keep him in my heart.”
John Rodriguez, South California
(continued….)
2/503d VIETNAM Newsletter / May 2013 – Issue 53
Page 40 of 74