TERRY, RONALD TERRANCE

Name: Ronald Terrance Terry
Rank/Branch: E6/US Army Special Forces
Unit: HQ & HQ Company, 5th Special Forces Group
Date of Birth: 30 April 1937
Home City of Record: Niagara Falls NY
Date of Loss: 29 January 1966
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 143704N 1085242E (BS719172)
Status (in 1973): Killed/Body Not Recovered
Category: 3
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Refno: 0242

Other Personnel In Incident: Cecil J. Hodgson; Frank N. Badolati (both
missing); Wiley W. Grey (survived); (other survivors)
 

On 30 March 66 the U.S. Army issued General Orders Number 73, award of the
Distinguished Service Cross, to Ronald Terry for action 9-14 December 1964
while serving as one of two Special Forces advisors to an eight man recon
team. Several actions occurred that resulted in the DSC for extraordinary
heroism in helping the wounded after multiple contacts with the enemy in
this timeframe.

It is believed, according to DSC researcher Bruce Swander, that Terry was
one of the few POW/MIAs to earn the DSC before capture. Two others, Bott and
Calhourn, were also SF.

Source: Compiled by Homecoming II Project 30 June 1990 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 2020.

 

REMARKS: SED HIT - RECOV 1 HERD SHOTS - J

SYNOPSIS: Frank N. Badaloti and Ronald T. Terry were riflemen on a Special
Forces reconnaissance team operating in An Lao Valley of Binh Dinh Province
12 miles west of Tam Quan in South Vietnam when his team was split during a
firefight. The patrol came under enemy fire on the afternoon of 28 January
1966 during which time Badolati was hit. Cecil Hodgson, the patrol leader,
from Detachment B52 Delta, was apparently treating Badolati's wounds as the
patrol traveled in small groups from the location where Badolati was hit.
Badolati was with two other individuals who survived, and as he was too
badly wounded to continue, the three remained for about two hours in their
position.

Badolati's condition worsened, and when the two survivors left the area,
they reported that Badolati was dead. They had no choice but to leave his
body behind.

Hodgson and Terry evaded for the rest of the day. On January 29, they moved
at first light into a defensive position, whereupon they encountered enemy
forces and another firefight ensued. Terry indicated that he had been hit,
and others thought he had been killed. When they looked for Hodgson, he was
gone. Survivors heard additional shots, which they believed were shots fired
at Hodgson, and they believed he also had been killed.

The team could not search for Hodgson because of the heavy enemy activity,
and were forced to move to a rallying point. They evaded capture for the
remainder of the day, and were ultimately picked up by helicopter.

Searches for all three missing were conducted for the next 4 days with no
results. Hodgson was classified Missing In Action. Badolati and Terry were
classified Killed/Body Not Recovered.

Since the end of the war, over 10,000 reports relating to Americans
prisoner, missing or unaccounted for in Southeast Asia have been received by
the U.S Government. Many authorities who have reviewed this intelligence
material, including a former Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency,
believe that hundreds of Americans are still alive, held captive. Hodgson
could be among them. If alive, what must he be thinking of us?

Cecil J. Hodgson was promoted to the rank of Master Sergeant during the
period he was maintained missing.

---------------------------------------------------------
                                                [071832Z.OH 05/04/96]

RCV18008  06:57 06/08/93

VZCZCBTO093
RR RUEHBTPW
DE RUHQSGG #7481 1581832
ZNR UUUUU
R 071832Z JUN 93 ZYB
FM CDR JTF-FA HONOLULU HI//J2//
TO RUEKJCS/DIA WASHINGTON DC//PW-MIA//
RUEAHOF/CDRPERSCOMALEXANDRIA VA//TAPC-PED-P//
RUEHBT/CJTFFA DET ONE BANGKOK TH
INFO RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASH DC
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHINGTON DC//CA/OCS/CCS/EAP/VLC//
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC//OASD-ISA/PW-MIA//
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC//OCJCS/J5/PW-MIA/J3-JOD//
RUEKJCS/USCINCPAC LO WASHINGTON DC
RUHQHQB/USCINCPAC HONOLULU HI//J3/J30-M//
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC//DEA/SEA/IB/DDO/EA/ICOG//
RUEHBT/USDAO BANGKOK TH//PW-MIA//
BT
UNCLAS //N03460//
DIA PASS TO DOD POW-MIA CENTRAL DOCUMENTATION OFFICE//
MSGID/SYS.RRM/CDR JTF-FA//
AMPN/SUBJ: SRV ORAL HISTORY - REPORT OF WARTIME INCIDENT IN BINH
DINH PROVINCE//
REF/A/RMG/CJTF-FA DET ONE/270508ZAPR93//

PAGE O2 RUHQSGG7481 UNCLAS
RMKS/1. REF A PROVIDED HEARSAY INFORMATION RELATED  BY TWO
RESIDENTS OF  HO CHI MINH CITY, WHICH PROBABLY  CORRELATES  WITH
REFNO 024O.

2. THE SOURCE  REPORTED THAT A MAN CALLED "NGOAN," A RESIDENT OF
THUONG  HOA  VILLAGE, NINH BINH PROVINCE TOLD THEM OF  A FIRE FIGHT
INVOLVING U. S. FORCES  WHICH OCCURRED NEAR THE "CAU SAP" BRIDGE, IN
THE AN LAO VALLEY OF BINH  DINH PROVINCE IN SEPTEMBER 1967.
ACCORDING  TO "NGOAN," THREE AMERICANS WERE KILLED IN THE FIRE
FIGHT. THE BODIES OF TWO OF THE AMERICANS WERE  ALLEGEDLY PUT INTO
A HOLE  WHICH SERVED AS "NGOAN'S," FIGHTING POSITION. "NGOAN"
REPORTEDLY  SAID PAVN FORCES WERE UNABLE TO LOCATE THE BODY OF THE
THIRD AMERICAN.

3. REFNO 0242: ON  28 JANUARY 1966, SERGEANT FIRST CLASS CECIL J.
HODGSON,  STAFF SERGEANT FRANK N. BADOLATI  AND STAFF SERGEANT
RONALD T. TERRY AND THREE OTHER SOLDIERS WERE ON A
RECONNAISSANCE PATROL IN THE AN LAO VALLEY OF SOUTHERN VIETNAM.
THE PATROL, ENCOUNTERED  A HOSTILE  FORCE  IN THE VICINITY OF GRID
COORDINATES  BS71517O, APPROXIMATELY EIGHT KILOMETERS NORTHWEST
OF AN LAO, BINH DINH PROVINCE, VIETNAM. THREE OF  THE PATROL
MEMBERS SUCCESSFULLY EVADED AND WERE RESCUED. ONE OF THE
SURVIVORS  REPORTED THAT SERGEANT

PAGE 03 RUHQSGG7481 UNCLAS
BADOLATI WAS SERIOUSLY WOUNDED DURING THE INITIAL EXCHANGE OF
FIRE AND WAS LATER LEFT BEHIND BY OTHER PATROL  MEMBERS AS THEY
WERE EVADING. ANOTHER SURVIVOR REPORTED THAT SERGEANT TERRY
WAS WOUNDED DURING A SUBSEQUENT FIRE FIGHT. DURING THE SECOND
ENGAGEMENT, SERGEANT HODGSON  DISAPPEARED AND WAS NOT  SEEN
AGAIN. SERGEANT HODGSON  AND SERGEANT TERRY WERE LAST SEEN IN THE
VICINITY OF GRID COORDINATES BS719172.  SERGEANT FIRST CLASS
HODGSON, SERGEANT BADOLATI AND SERGEANT TERRY ARE UNACCOUNTED
FOR.

4. WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE REPORTED DATE OF OCCURRENCE, THE
HEARSAY INFORMATION  CORRELATES  WELL WITH THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF
LOSS  ASSOCIATED WITH REFNO O242. JTF-FA FILES INDICATE REFNO O242 IS
THE ONLY GROUND  LOSS  INCIDENT, INVOLVING  UNACCOUNTED  FOR
INDIVIDUALS, WHICH OCCURRED  WITHIN TEN KILOMETERS OF  HUNG NHON
VILLAGE (BS7115).

5. FOR  CDRPERSCOM: FORWARDED  FOR APPROPRIATE ACTION  SANITIZED
COPIES OF REF A WILL BE FORWARDED  SEPARATELY.

6. EVAL-KLE//

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

02/2020

https://dpaa.secure.force.com/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt0000000Ka86EAC

Service Member

SSG RONALD TERRANCE TERRY

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On January 28, 1966, a six-man reconnaissance patrol in An Lao Valley, Binh Dinh Province, South Vietnam, came under fire and one man was severely wounded. The patrol departed the area to tend to the man's wounds but was immediately attacked again. After returning fire, the patrol moved on but was unable to repel ongoing enemy attacks. On January 29, in an attempt to evade the enemy, the patrol separated into two three-man groups. One man was eventually rescued by helicopter; however, the other five patrol members were lost at different times over the two-day period as they maneuvered away from the enemy. Searches for the five missing patrol members were unsuccessful.

Staff Sergeant Ronald Terrance Terry entered the U.S. Army from New York and was a member of Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 5th Special Forces Group. He was a member of this reconnaissance team when it was attacked on January 28, 1966, and he was last observed wounded on January 29, after being hit by enemy fire. He could not be located following the incident, and he remains unaccounted-for. Today, Staff Sergeant Terry is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Based on all information available, DPAA assessed the individual's case to be in the analytical category of Non-recoverable.

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