By Pastor Dave Farmer

This was written to honor my brother in Christ Ralph A Rowden who shares with me a devotion to our military service, a love for the flag and all things American, a true patriot in a day when they are hard to find.

THE BATTLE FOR HUE CITY

January 31, 1968, marks the turning point in the Vietnam War which ended with our withdrawal from Vietnam. This date is recognized as the Tet Offensive where 84,000 Viet Cong guerrillas aided by NVA troops attacked a hundred cities and towns throughout South Vietnam.

When the main North Vietnamese operation began the next morning, the offensive was countrywide and well coordinated, striking more than 100 towns and cities, including 36 of 44 provincial capitals, five of the six autonomous cities, 72 of 245 district towns, and the southern capital of Saigon. The offensive was the largest military operation conducted by either side up to that point in the war.

Though initial attacks stunned both the US and South Vietnamese armies, causing them temporarily to lose control of several cities, they quickly regrouped, beat back the attacks, and inflicted heavy casualties on North Vietnamese forces.

The Battle of Huế (also called the Siege of Huế), was one of the bloodiest and longest battles of the Vietnam War. During the Battle of Huế, intense fighting lasted for a month, destroying the city. South Vietnamese troops and three U.S. Marine battalions counter-attacked and engaged in the heaviest fighting of the entire Tet Offensive. They retook the old imperial city, house by house, street by street, aided by American air and artillery strikes.

"In the rapidly deteriorating weather, the Marines found themselves in a room by room, building by building struggle to clear an eleven by nine block area just south of the river. This effort rapidly turned into a nightmare. Fighting in such close quarters against an entrenched enemy was decidedly different from what the Marines had been trained to do. Accustomed to fighting in the sparsely populated countryside of I Corps, nothing in their training had prepared them for the type of warfare demanded by this urban setting. It was savage work -- house-to-house fighting through city streets--of a type largely unseen by Americans since World War II. Ground gained in the fighting was to be measured in inches and each city block cost dearly: every alley, street corner, window, and garden had to be paid for in blood. Correspondents who moved forward with the Marines reported the fighting as the most intense they had ever seen in South Vietnam." It took ten days to advance the last 1,000 yards inside the walled city.

PFC John Wayne Rowden

This is the story, told too often about our nation's fighting men, who fought, bled, and died on a battlefield 7700 miles from our shores, so that we could enjoy the freedoms and privileges of being an American Citizen. It was on February 10, 1968, ten days after the battle for Hue city began, that John Wayne Rowden, engaged the enemy, providing cover fire for Marines that were pinned down in an urban ambush.

"During Operation Hue City, PFC Rowden's company was maneuvering along a street near the edge of the city when it was taken under intense enemy semi-automatic and automatic weapons fire which inflicted several casualties and temporarily pinned down the lead squad.

"With complete disregard for his own safety, PFC Rowden moved forward to assist his beleaguered companions. As he moved across the street, he was wounded by automatic weapons fire in both legs. Realizing that he could not move and that any attempt to help him would result in further casualties, he elected to hold his position and provide cover fire for other Marines who were wounded and in an open area, the report further stated, "Undaunted by the intense enemy fire, PFC Rowden calmly held his position, inflicting numerous casualties on the enemy until he was mortally wounded."

In that action, he gave his life in an attempt to save others, and for that sacrifice, we continue to honor his devotion to duty and courage on the battlefield, and his demonstrating the highest tradition of the Corp. For that, he received a silver star. The citation reads:

Citation of JOHN W. ROWDEN

The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star Medal to John W. Rowden (2352892), Private First Class, U.S. Marine Corps, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action while serving with Company G, 2d Battalion, 5th Marines, 1st Marine Division (Rein.), FMF, in connection with combat operations against the enemy in the Republic of Vietnam on February 9, 1968. By his courage, aggressive fighting spirit and steadfast devotion to duty in the face of extreme personal danger, Private First Class Rowden upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the United States Naval Service.

On February 24, Rowen's fellow Marines occupied the Imperial Palace in the heart of the citadel, and the battle ends with a North Vietnamese defeat. American losses are 142 Marines killed and 857 wounded, 74 U.S. Army killed and 507 wounded. South Vietnamese suffer 384 killed and 1830 wounded. NVA killed are put at over 5000.

A CBS television crew filmed the event as the Marines tore down the enemy ensign and raised the Stars and Stripes. This was a politically sensitive situation; the Marines should have turned over the provincial headquarters building to the Army of the Republic of Vietnam, but Capt. Christmas told his gunnery sergeant, "We've been looking at that damn North Vietnamese flag all day, and now we're going to take it down." To Lt. Col. Cheatham, this proved to be the turning point in the battle for Hue. He later said, "When we took the province headquarters, we broke their back.

There are many untold stories of personal sacrifice like the Rowden family, who lost two sons in the Vietnam War, also James Herbert Rowden who died on 5 March 1966 in Quang Ngai S. Vietnam. We honor this family, and we know our words cannot replace their great loss, yet we weep with them, and at least we can say to them, "WE TOO WILL NOT FORGET!"