Lance Corporal Bronson Lee Westfall joined Charlie Battery, 1st Battalion, 12th Marines, 3rd Marine Division, in Da Nang, South Vietnam on 15 March 1966. He was assigned to the 105 Howitzer guns as a field artillery cannoneer (MOS 0811). Charlie Battery was relocated North to the DMZ area with Camp Carroll as home base. He later extended his tour of duty and volunteered to be assigned to 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marines as a forward observer for Charlie Battery and was killed on 27 October 1967 in Quang Tri Providence while calling in the fire coordinates to Charlie Battery. He was killed in action by a round from friendly fire while under hostile enemy fire.
***********WAR TALES II***********
When Gini Westfalls' son was killed in Vietnam at the age of 21, the family lived in Hampton, Virginia, outside Norfolk. Bronson graduated from high school there in 1965 and joined the Marine Corps a few months later.
He was a Marine cannoneer. He had finished his year's service in ‘Nam in June '67, Bronson volunteered for another six months firing the Marines' big guns on the front lines in Quang Tri Province. He was scheduled to be discharge from the service in December, just in time for a holiday wedding to his high school sweetheart, Debora Drum.
Charlotte Sun Newspaper 1981
Funeral services for Marine Lance Cpl. Bronson Lee Westfall, 21, of Hampton, who died October 27, 1967, of wounds received in battle at Quang Tri, South Vietnam, will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday in the chapel of R. Hayden Smith Funeral Home.
The Rev. Edward L. Counts, pastor of Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, will officiate. Burial with military honors at the graveside, will be in Parklawn Memorial Park Cemetery.
Daily Press 1967
Lance Cpl. Bronson Lee Westfall, 21, son of Manuel L. and Gini Westfall of Hampton, died Friday of injuries received while serving with the Marine Corps near Quang Tri, Vietnam.
He enlisted in the Marine Corps in June 1965 and had served in Vietnam the past 20 months.
A native of Plainfield, New Jersey, he was two years old when his family moved to Hampton. He was a member of Gloria Dei Lutheran Church and Phi Sigma Chi fraternity of Kecoughtan High School.
Also, surviving are his maternal grandmother, Mrs. Minnie Steffins of Hampton, and his maternal grandfather, E.T. Williams of Westfield, New Jersey.
His body will be brought to the Peninsula for final arrangements.
Daily Press 1967
***********WAR TALES II***********
When Gini Westfalls' son was killed in Vietnam at the age of 21, the family lived in Hampton, Virginia, outside Norfolk. Bronson graduated from high school there in 1965 and joined the Marine Corps a few months later.
He was a Marine cannoneer. He had finished his year's service in ‘Nam in June '67, Bronson volunteered for another six months firing the Marines' big guns on the front lines in Quang Tri Province. He was scheduled to be discharge from the service in December, just in time for a holiday wedding to his high school sweetheart, Debora Drum.
Charlotte Sun Newspaper 1981
Funeral services for Marine Lance Cpl. Bronson Lee Westfall, 21, of Hampton, who died October 27, 1967, of wounds received in battle at Quang Tri, South Vietnam, will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday in the chapel of R. Hayden Smith Funeral Home.
The Rev. Edward L. Counts, pastor of Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, will officiate. Burial with military honors at the graveside, will be in Parklawn Memorial Park Cemetery.
Daily Press 1967
Lance Cpl. Bronson Lee Westfall, 21, son of Manuel L. and Gini Westfall of Hampton, died Friday of injuries received while serving with the Marine Corps near Quang Tri, Vietnam.
He enlisted in the Marine Corps in June 1965 and had served in Vietnam the past 20 months.
A native of Plainfield, New Jersey, he was two years old when his family moved to Hampton. He was a member of Gloria Dei Lutheran Church and Phi Sigma Chi fraternity of Kecoughtan High School.
Also, surviving are his maternal grandmother, Mrs. Minnie Steffins of Hampton, and his maternal grandfather, E.T. Williams of Westfield, New Jersey.
His body will be brought to the Peninsula for final arrangements.
Daily Press 1967
Lance Corporal Bronson Lee Westfall joined Charlie Battery, 1st Battalion, 12th Marines, 3rd Marine Division, in Da Nang, South Vietnam on 15 March 1966. He was assigned to the 105 Howitzer guns as a field artillery cannoneer (MOS 0811). Charlie Battery was relocated North to the DMZ area with Camp Carroll as home base. He later extended his tour of duty and volunteered to be assigned to 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marines as a forward observer for Charlie Battery and was killed on 27 October 1967 in Quang Tri Providence while calling in the fire coordinates to Charlie Battery. He was killed in action by a round from friendly fire while under hostile enemy fire.
***********WAR TALES II***********
When Gini Westfalls' son was killed in Vietnam at the age of 21, the family lived in Hampton, Virginia, outside Norfolk. Bronson graduated from high school there in 1965 and joined the Marine Corps a few months later.
He was a Marine cannoneer. He had finished his year's service in ‘Nam in June '67, Bronson volunteered for another six months firing the Marines' big guns on the front lines in Quang Tri Province. He was scheduled to be discharge from the service in December, just in time for a holiday wedding to his high school sweetheart, Debora Drum.
Charlotte Sun Newspaper 1981
Funeral services for Marine Lance Cpl. Bronson Lee Westfall, 21, of Hampton, who died October 27, 1967, of wounds received in battle at Quang Tri, South Vietnam, will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday in the chapel of R. Hayden Smith Funeral Home.
The Rev. Edward L. Counts, pastor of Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, will officiate. Burial with military honors at the graveside, will be in Parklawn Memorial Park Cemetery.
Daily Press 1967
Lance Cpl. Bronson Lee Westfall, 21, son of Manuel L. and Gini Westfall of Hampton, died Friday of injuries received while serving with the Marine Corps near Quang Tri, Vietnam.
He enlisted in the Marine Corps in June 1965 and had served in Vietnam the past 20 months.
A native of Plainfield, New Jersey, he was two years old when his family moved to Hampton. He was a member of Gloria Dei Lutheran Church and Phi Sigma Chi fraternity of Kecoughtan High School.
Also, surviving are his maternal grandmother, Mrs. Minnie Steffins of Hampton, and his maternal grandfather, E.T. Williams of Westfield, New Jersey.
His body will be brought to the Peninsula for final arrangements.
Daily Press 1967
***********WAR TALES II***********
When Gini Westfalls' son was killed in Vietnam at the age of 21, the family lived in Hampton, Virginia, outside Norfolk. Bronson graduated from high school there in 1965 and joined the Marine Corps a few months later.
He was a Marine cannoneer. He had finished his year's service in ‘Nam in June '67, Bronson volunteered for another six months firing the Marines' big guns on the front lines in Quang Tri Province. He was scheduled to be discharge from the service in December, just in time for a holiday wedding to his high school sweetheart, Debora Drum.
Charlotte Sun Newspaper 1981
Funeral services for Marine Lance Cpl. Bronson Lee Westfall, 21, of Hampton, who died October 27, 1967, of wounds received in battle at Quang Tri, South Vietnam, will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday in the chapel of R. Hayden Smith Funeral Home.
The Rev. Edward L. Counts, pastor of Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, will officiate. Burial with military honors at the graveside, will be in Parklawn Memorial Park Cemetery.
Daily Press 1967
Lance Cpl. Bronson Lee Westfall, 21, son of Manuel L. and Gini Westfall of Hampton, died Friday of injuries received while serving with the Marine Corps near Quang Tri, Vietnam.
He enlisted in the Marine Corps in June 1965 and had served in Vietnam the past 20 months.
A native of Plainfield, New Jersey, he was two years old when his family moved to Hampton. He was a member of Gloria Dei Lutheran Church and Phi Sigma Chi fraternity of Kecoughtan High School.
Also, surviving are his maternal grandmother, Mrs. Minnie Steffins of Hampton, and his maternal grandfather, E.T. Williams of Westfield, New Jersey.
His body will be brought to the Peninsula for final arrangements.
Daily Press 1967
Inscription
The inscription on Bronson's headstone reads:
"Death answers so many prayers.
It is the Triumph of the soul unleashed
And the completion of a task well done."
Written by Fiance Debora Drum
