TERAN, REFUGIO THOMAS
Remains Identified 03/2002
Name: Refugio Thomas "Tom" Teran
Rank/Branch: E3/US Army
Unit: 2nd Battalion, 501st Infantry, 101st Airborne Division
Date of Birth: 08 May 1949 (Detroit MI)
Home City of Record: Westland MI
Date of Loss: 06 May 1970
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 163840N 1065600E (YD081411)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Refno: 1613
Source: Compiled from one or more of the following: raw data from U.S.
Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families,
published sources, interviews. Updated by the P.O.W. NETWORK in 2002.
Other Personnel In Incident: Larry G. Kier (missing)
REMARKS:
SYNOPSIS: Every week while he was in Vietnam, Refugio Teran got a package
from his mother containing 30 pounds of oatmeal, canned fruit and sugar,
which Teran gave to a Vietnamese family near the base where he was
stationed.
On May 4, "in the world", National Guardsmen had been called in to control
rioting at Kent State and then Governor Ronald Reagan ordered California
universities closed for the rest of the week.
During the night of May 5, 1970 (12 hours in time behind Vietnam time), Mrs.
Anna Teran woke up screaming, knowing she would lose her son.
On May 6, 1970, PFC Larry G. Kier and PFC Refugio T. Teran were assigned to
separate companies of the 101st Airborne Division as riflemen defending an
artillery fire support base in South Vietnam.
At about 0500 hours on May 6, 1970, Viet Cong forces overran a guard station
at an ammunition dump near Henderson Hill in Quang Tri Province, South
Vietnam, killing 33 Americans. Kier and Teran were last seen running toward
a barricade, and when not seen again, were presumed dead. Kier's position
was reportedly hit by a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG), and then napalm
ignited in his location which was leaking from a nearby position. PFC Teran
had been located in another firing position along the camp perimeter.
The next day, a graves registration detail collecting bodies was unable to
find any trace of Kier and Teran. Five others in the unit who had been
believed dead were found alive, but injured.
When 591 Americans were released from Vietnam in 1973, Kier and Teran were
not among them. There has been no word surface about them since they
disappeared.
Since 1973, nearly 10,000 reports have been given to the U.S. Government
regarding Americans still in Southeast Asia. Some have withstood the
"closest scrutiny" possible, and cannot be disputed. There is very strong
reason to believe that Americans are still held captive in Southeast Asia
today.
Unlike "MIAs" from other wars, most of the nearly 2500 Americans who did not
come home from Vietnam can easily be accounted for, dead or alive. We, as a
nation, must turn our immediate attention to those who are alive and do
everything possible to secure their freedom.
-------------------------------------------------------
[ssrep7.txt 02/09/93]
SMITH 324 COMPELLING CASES
South Vietnam Larry G. Kier
Refugio T. Terran
(1613)
On May 6, 1970, Private First Class Kier and Private First Class
Terran were at a fire support base in Quang Tri Province. Their
position came under an enemy attack and a nearby ammunition dump 20
meters from their bunker was hit by a rocket propelled grenade.
Napalm from the ammunition dump leaked into their position which
caught fire and burned. After the attack Terran could not be
located, and Kier, at a separate location, could not be located
either. Both individuals were declared killed in action, body not
recovered in the late 1970s.
In August 1991, a Vietnam resident turned over the partially melted
identity card belonging to Kier together with two bone fragments.
The bones were reportedly recovered during 1987 and were turned
over to a U.S. representative in Hanoi. The fragments are
currently undergoing analysis.
=============================
LEAGUE UPDATE: March 7, 2002
AMERICANS ACCOUNTED FOR: According to the Department of Defense, there are
now 1,936 Americans still missing and unaccounted for from the Vietnam War.
Most recently, remains jointly recovered in June, 1994, were identified as
Air Force Colonels Peter M. Cleary of CT and Leonardo C. Leonor of NY, both
listed as MIA October 10, 1972 in North Vietnam. Also recently identified
were Army SSGs Larry G. Kier of NB and Rufugio T. Teran of MI, missing in a
South Vietnam ground incident since May 6, 1970. Local villagers initially
provided remains in August 1992; joint operations resulted in further
information and remains. Others recently accounted for include Air Force
Col William C. Coltman of PA and LtCol Robert A. Brett, Jr., of OR, missing
in Laos since September 29, 1972, with remains jointly recovered August 28,
2000.
=============================
Refugio Teran, left, sits on a couch as his wife, Anna Bertha Teran, looks
at a photo of their son, Staff Sgt. Refugio Thomas Teran, whose remains were
recently discovered in Vietnam and returned to the United States.
MIA's body returned home after 32 years Westland soldier to be buried at
Arlington
By Jennifer Brooks / The Detroit News
March 26, 2002
WESTLAND -- Thirty-two years after he vanished in the jungles of Vietnam,
Refugio Thomas Teran is coming home.
Home to the parents who never stopped waiting and hoping, home to the
friends who never forgot the handsome boy with the generous heart. Home to a
hero's burial, with full military honors, in Arlington National Cemetery.
"I was praying for this, and I just thank my God for giving me this gift,"
said his mother, Anna Bertha Teran, 76, as she sat in her Westland home,
surrounded by pictures of her lost son. "I only wish I could share what I'm
feeling with all the other families who are still waiting."
The recovery and identification of Tom Teran -- last seen in the middle of a
fierce firefight in the predawn hours of May 6, 1970 as Viet Cong forces
overran the munitions dump he was guarding on Henderson Hill, Quang Tri
Province -- brings the number of U.S. servicemen still missing in Southeast
Asia to 1,932.
Teran is the first Michigan MIA to come home since construction began on the
new Vietnam memorial in Lansing. His return leaves 60 names among the
missing.
"Every one of those names is a story. Every one of them is just so important
to us," said Marty Eddy, president of the Prisoners of War Committee of
Michigan.
The U.S. government spends $55 million a year in an effort to retrieve the
lost casualties of the Second World War, Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf War and
assorted Cold War skirmishes -- 88,000 missing servicemen in all. Since the
United States and Vietnam restored diplomatic ties in 1992, the Defense
Department has deployed 69 search teams to Southeast Asia, excavating crash
sites and battlefields, interviewing aging civilians and soldiers, tracking
rumors of unreturned prisoners of war.
"Our boy is found. But we're going to keep looking for the boys who are
left," said his father, Refugio Teran, 83. For three decades, the Terans
have lobbied the Vietnamese and U.S. governments to search for their son.
They collected petitions, traveled the state speaking to groups, searched
military records and tracked down anyone who might have been near their son
that day. And as the years passed, they watched other parents grow old and
die, their questions unanswered.
"We're the only parents who show up for the (POW/MIA family) meetings now,"
his father said. "Every year there were less and less of us."
The Terans have their answers now, and the short story of their son's life
finally has an ending, even if it's not a happy one. No longer missing, but
still sorely missed, Tom Teran was born on Mother's Day 1949 and lost on
Mother's Day 1970, two days shy of his 21st birthday.
After a brutal firefight, the Americans held the hill. The next day, a
search and recovery detail retrieved five injured servicemen and 33 bodies,
but found no trace of Pfc. Tom Teran and another rifleman, Larry Kier of
Tennessee.
In those days, families of the missing were expected to suffer in silence.
Not Anna and Refugio Teran, who, when their children were growing up, always
insisted that the sleep-overs be at their house, so they could keep an eye
on everyone. Who tailed the bus carrying their newly inducted son past the
city limits, hoping for one last glimpse of him. Who sent him enormous care
packages every week and insisted he write and call whenever he could -- so
they would know where he was.
The military sent condolences, and a box of medals Teran had never told his
parents he'd earned. They promoted him twice during the eight years he was
officially listed as Missing in Action.
"I don't want any medals, I told them. You stay behind and you find my son,"
Anna Teran told the officers. They sent the medals anyway, which sit in
their velvet case in the living room. "That's all I have left now of my
Tommy. My jewels are my children, and right now I have lost one of the
biggest jewels I had."
And so, when the Department of Defense closed the books on the Teran
investigation in 1978, the Terans took over.
"For your kid, you do anything," said Refugio Teran. By the time the United
States renewed its commitment to retrieving all the war missing in 1992, the
Terans knew almost everything about their son's last days. They tracked down
his buddies, they tracked down the Vietnamese family Tom used to feed from
his weekly care packages, they tracked down survivors of the battle. One of
his uncles, a career military man, spent a year in Vietnam searching the
region where he was lost.
That May 5, Tom Teran and his buddies were relaxing at the Eagle Beach Rest
and Recovery Area, rejoicing over a larger-than-usual birthday care package
from home, crammed with cake and all the fixings for a party. Teran, always
happy to share the wealth, strolled over to another serviceman standing
nearby and looking lonely, and invited him to join the party.
"Hi! I'm Tom Teran from Westland, Michigan, and it's my birthday," he
introduced himself, and together the group set off to get ready for the
party and do a little Mother's Day shopping. He mailed off a package of
presents for home and scrawled a quick note, describing his day, reassuring
his mother he'd taken communion that morning, and mentioning the name of his
new friend -- a kid named Silva from Holland, Mich.
Later, his parents tracked down that soldier, in the V.A. hospital where he
lay with his arm gone and half his face blown away in the battle for
Henderson Hill. It was he, not the Army, who told them about the alarm that
sounded and the helicopters that scooped up all the soldiers on the base to
defend the bunker. He gave them the horrific details of the battle, where he
had fought, back-to-back with Teran until they lost track of each other in
the fighting. The last thing anyone saw of Teran was a glimpse of him
running toward a barricade.
Now they also have a thick folder from the military's decade-long search for
their son. They know now that a villager, scavaging scrap in the area, found
their son's body later in 1970 and buried it under a simple marker.
Searchers from the military's Joint Task Force-Full Accounting excavated
Henderson Hill in 1992, but maddeningly, missed the grave and marker by just
200 yards. His remains were finally located in 1996, but the final
identification wasn't complete until last December.
"I kept saying, 'All I want for Christmas is to know something about my
son,' " said Anna Teran.
Tom Teran's return will be marked with a series of memorials around Metro
Detroit: in his hometown of Westland; at the VFW post that adopted his cause
and supported his family all those years; and at the POW/MIA memorial in
Novi, which will add one more return date to the bronze plaque on National
POW/MIA Recognition Day in September. Dozens of supporters also plan to join
the family at the memorial ceremony in Arlington on April 19.
"To me, it's surprising, after all these years, that so many people still
remember," said Refugio Teran. "It does something for you. It gives you a
little bit of comfort that all these people are there for you."
These medals reflect the military history of Teran, who was killed in 1970
while guarding an ammunition dump in Quang Tri Province.
Upcoming services
Refugio Thomas Teran will be buried with full military honors Friday, April
19, in Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. There will be several
memorial services in Michigan as well, including:
* A memorial mass at 11:30 a.m. Saturday, April 13, at St. Theodore
Church, 8200 N. Wayne, Westland.
* A memorial service at 3 p.m. Sunday, May 5, at Bova VFW Post #9885, 6440
N. Hicks, Westland.
* A special ceremony during POW/MIA Recognition Day at the POW/MIA Memorial
at the Oakland Memorial Gardens cemetery, at 12 Mile and Novi Road in Novi.
* Memorial contributions may be made in Teran's name to the POW Committee of
Michigan, 2416 Harmony Dr., Burton, Mich. 48509.
==============================
The Detroit News
Friday, December 27, 2002
Anna Teran, searched tirelessly for missing soldier son
Jennifer Brooks
WESTLAND -- For 32 years, Anna Bertha Teran moved heaven and earth to find
her lost son after he was declared missing in action in the Vietnam
War.
They found him this year on the battle-scarred hillside where he died on
Mother's Day 1970 and brought him home for a hero's burial in Arlington
National Cemetery.
With her long quest at an end, Mrs. Teran died from cancer Monday, Dec. 23,
2002, in Oakwood Hospital, Dearborn. She was 77.
"I just thank my God for giving me this gift," Mrs. Teran said after news
came that the remains of her son, Army Sgt. Refugio Thomas Teran,
would be returned.
Mary Eddy, president of the Michigan POW Committee and friend of the Teran
family for 20 years, said the burial provided some closure for
Mrs. Teran.
"I think, just maybe, with the resolution of Tommy's case, perhaps she felt
that her work was done," Eddy said.
For all the years her son was listed as missing in action, she and her
husband worked tirelessly to pressure the government to continue to
search.
Once, during the budget crunch of the 1970s, the Defense Department tried to
cut off the money it spends to fly the families of missing
servicemen to Washington.
Mrs. Teran objected strenuously. An abashed government sent the vice
president's plane, Air Force Two, to pick up the Michigan families and
fly them in style to the briefing.
Many in Dearborn still remember the small tamale stand she used to operate
in the city.
She dedicated tireless hours to her church, St. Theodore's, and to volunteer
work for the Karmanos Cancer Institute.
By the end of her life, she had accumulated more than 40 godchildren, not to
mention the neighbors and friends she kept loving tabs on.
Surivors include her husband, Refugio Teran Sr.; a daughter, Vilma; a son,
Enrique Ricardo; five grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.
Visitation will be from 5-9 p.m. Saturday and 1-9 p.m. Sunday in the Voran
Funeral Home, 23701 Ford Road, Dearborn.
A funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Monday in St. Theodore
Catholic Church, 8200 Wayne Road, Westland.