In Memory of Marty Van Kuiken ........ 1st Platoon
A "Currahee Brother" who passed on July 18th of 1997. We invite Currahee Brothers which were friends of his and knew him well to make some comments.
"Thank you brother for a job well done". Until we meet again my friend ..... "Currahee"......"Stands Alone"
Marty Van Kuiken, Died on July 18th, 1997
Marty Van Kuiken
A few years ago while watching a documentary on the battle for FSB Ripcord. I swore I saw Marty in one of the scenes. Marty told me he was in some film footage the army had taken sometime around the Ripcord battle. He would have been very excited about being on TV.
Marty was a good friend. He saved my life once “sort of”. We were in the jungle digging in for the night. I told Marty I was going to setup a trip flare in front of our position. While setting up the flare someone threw a grenade pretty close to my position. I low crawled back into the perimeter to the foxhole we shared. I was yelling “currahee” as I crawled. He didn’t hear me when I told him about the trip flare. When I arrived at the hole I looked up and there was Marty, eyes as big as saucers, about to smack me with his pack. Thankfully he grabbed his pack and not his M16. So you see he did save my life. ______________________________________________________________________
At another NDP site we were digging our foxhole. We had been cutting our way through the jungle all day. We were both tired. Our foxhole wasn’t that deep but who cares, right? That night artillery was called in around our perimeter. The rounds were whistling over our heads. We both tried to squeeze into that hole but no way. Lots of our body parts remained above ground level. Marty kept pushing my head into the dirt to protect me every time one of those rounds went over our hole. After it was over we suddenly found energy to finish digging our foxhole. Every foxhole we dug after that was plenty deep. Marty and I laughed many times about the above events. He’s a good friend that will always be in my thoughts and prayers. ___Pat Germany
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