Charles V. Newton

Charles Newton, was born and reared in the small texas town of Canadian. Seven months after he graduated from high school, he followed in the footsteps of his three brothers, and enlisted in the U. S. Army. Charles completed Basic Airborne School with the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and after a tour of duty in Germany, volunteered for Special Forces and Vietnam.

In November, 1966, Charles joined the 5th Special Forces Group in Vietnam. He attended the Reconnaissance School in Nha Trang, and was assigned to Special Project Delta Detachment B-52.

During his second tour in Vietnam, Charles landed in the hospital at Long Bihn on January 11, 1968. Following are exerpts from a letter Charles wrote to his mom and dad:

Dear Folks,

Here I am again, flat on my back, however no real harm done . . . got one of the million dollar wounds. Caught a bullet on top of the head Tuesday a.m. and underwent surgery that afternoon. All are amazed that I'm here. I told them, you still can't keep a good man down. Hold all my mail. I should be state side in a couple of weeks.

Charles received a thirty-day convalescent leave, and arrived in his home town. He sported a chest-full of medals, including the Bronze Star with oak leaf cluster, air medal, and three Purple Hearts. He recovered from his wounds, and in May of 1968, married a home town gal. Two months later, he returned to Vietnam.

On March 22, 1969, Charles wrote a letter stating that he would be leaving Nha Trang in one to two days for I Corps (Phu Bai), Northern South Vietnam, and would be gone between thirty and ninety days. Each of his letters, left the reader with a definite sense that Charles intended a long career with the army.

Charles was a Recon Team Leader in Detachment B-52, referred to as "Project Delta." His team included three Vietnamese and three U.S. Special Force soldiers with a mission to conduct long-range reconnaissance into enemy occupied areas. These missions normally lasted for a three to five day period.

On April 14, 1969, his Team infiltrated Quang Nam Province in South Vietnam, and on the 16th, encountered enemy contact, but continued the mission. Shortly after noon on April 17th, the Team reported it was in contact with the enemy and requested air support. The last radio transmission heard from the team stated, "we're in a stream bed and hit bad".

Recon Team six which included SSG Charles V Newton; SGT Charles F Prevedel; SP-4 Douglas E Dahill; and three unidentified Vietnamese, became missing in action.

On this 28 day operation, between 29 Mar 1969 and 25 April 1969, Project Delta had suffered 5 KIA, 33 WIA, and 11 MIA, which included the loss of Road Runner Team 101 and Recon Team number six.

On December 16, 1969, five months after Charles Newton was declared missing in action, the U.S. Army promoted him to Sergeant First Class.
 

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