Vietnam - Pvt. Earl Clyde Weatherman, USMC, Danang, April 1968

[Richard]

Earl Clyde Weatherman, USMC

USMC Pvt Earl Clyde Weatherman is an example of a serviceman who went over the
hill, was captured, and later killed. In fact, he went over the wall - - the wall of the Marine brig in Danang. Weatherman was captured by Communist VietNamese forces after escaping from the brig. There is a persistent myth that Weatherman defected but the fact is that he soon appeared in a jungle prison camp with other US POWs. Unlike USMC Private Robert Garwood, who lived with the Provisional Army of Vietnam (PAVN or Viet Cong) guards, carried a weapon, and went on operations with the PAVN, Weatherman was truly a POW.

He apparently disliked the Communist POW camp as much as he disapproved of the USMC brig. One day he jumped a guard while on a work detail outside the POW camp and together with another POW tried to escape. The whole story is that POWs from this camp were taken to a nearby village from time to time to dig manioc from village fields for food. Two PAVN guards took Weatherman and another US POW, Dennis Hammond, to dig manioc. One of the guards went to visit a village lady. Weatherman and Hammond overpowered the other guard, took his weapon, and beat feet.

The communist militia from a nearby Montagnard village quickly tracked down the
two escapees. When they caught up with the escapees, one of the militiamen
shot Weatherman on the spot. Hammond was recaptured and returned to the POW camp. There, he told his story to the other US POWs. Hammond later died at the hands of his captors and thus we do not have his story first hand.

In the early-to-mid 1990s a US field team searching for the grave sites of Hammond and Weatherman interviewed the guy who led the militia group - - by then in his 70s. He said they shot Weatherman because he was armed and they feared he might shoot them rather than surrender. (Weatherman was carrying an SKS rifle he took from the guard he attacked). The team believed that they were close to the graves of both Hammond and Weatherman, but were not successful in locating them.

There is a large amount of mythology about Weatherman, some claiming that Weatherman was a deserter and that he is still living in Vietnam. After much investigation, US military authorities believe that Weatherman, in fact, died in an escape attempt.

LINKS:
Deserters
POW Bio PAGE of SCOPE SYSTEMS.

 

[Richard]

Private Earle Clyde Weatherman, USMC, Serial Number 2215864, was assigned to M Company, 3rd Battalion, 7th Regiment, 1st Marine Division, in VietNam.

On 8 November, 1967, Weatherman escaped from the III MAF Stockade in DaNang, South Vietnam. He was reportedly killed on 1 April 1968 while attempting to escape from a Viet Cong Prisoner of War Camp.

LINK:

https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/docs/DOC_0000023236.pdf

RVN: WEATHERMAN, EARL/File Record Summary

 

[Richard]

Chinese Type 56 semi-automatic carbine (Chinese SKS) carried by VietNamese Army (NVA) and Viet Cong Forces. This is the type of rifle taken from the prison guard by Earle Weatherman and Dennis Hammond during their escape from the POW camp.

LINK:
SKS - Wikipedia

 

[Richard]

Earle Weatherman was mentioned briefly in a recent Memorial Day address by fellow Vietnam War POW David Harker:

... Hal Kushner was our medical leader, and his efforts were heroic.

They died beside me, those brave men of D Company, 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry, 196th Light Infantry Brigade. I will always remember those brief weeks I served with them before they were killed in battle in the Hiep Duc area of Quang Nam Province on Jan. 8, 1968. Capt. Roland Belcher, commanding officer; 2nd Lt. Richard Seibert; Platoon Sgt. Thomas Booker; Spc. 4th Class George Sehi; Spc. 4th Class Michael Oliver and Pfc. Garland Griffin were selfless patriots, committed to the high ideals of freedom and the rights of man. What a better country this would be if they had lived to contribute to their communities.

I also carry the memories of the American prisoners who died in jungle camps in the Trung Son Mountain range of western Quang Nam Province. These men fought a war of resistance without guns. Army Capt. William Eisenbraun had already succumbed to the primitive conditions before my group arrived. During the next three years in the jungle, we cared for and buried 1st Sgt. Richard Frank Williams; Pvt. Francis Eugene Cannon; Pvt. William David Port; Pvt. Robert Sherman; Lance Cpl. Edwin Russell Grissett; Pvt. Frederick John Burns; Lance Cpl. Joseph Zawtocki and Lance Cpl. Dennis Wayne Hammond.

Pvt. Earl Clyde Weatherman (USMC) was shot to death during an abortive escape attempt.

And we cared for four German nurses, captured near Da Nang. Marie Kerber died on the trail during the nurses’ forced march to our camp. Hindrika Kortmann and Georg Bartsch died within three months of their arrival in our jungle camp and we gave them a proper Christian burial. The darkest hours of captivity were seeing these precious souls fade away. Monica Schwinn and Bernard Diel lived to return to their native Germany.

Our efforts to deal with the conditions and meet the needs of the dying were aided by Dr. Hal Kushner, the only physician captured during the Vietnam War. He was the only survivor of a helicopter that flew into the side of a mountain during a night flight. A flight surgeon for the 1st Calvary Division, Kushner was volunteered for Vietnam after seeing wounded soldiers treated at Tripler Army Hospital where he was an intern. He was a Godsend, albeit an angel stripped by the Viet Cong of rank, denied the practice of medicine and devoid of any medical tools or medicine.

Kushner was brilliant and compassionate. He pleaded for medicine before a high political cadre visiting our camp, and chloromycetin miraculously appeared in camp to wipe out rampant dysentery. When Cannon died, Kushner defied our captors by refusing burial clothes since they had not provided assistance when he was dying. This was a great act of courage since they threatened us with death and would beat us if we were “reactionary.” Kushner brought Julius Long back to life when he was unresponsive, breaking several ribs in the process — but Long returned home.

Kushner cared for our dying so they would be as comfortable as possible in their last hours, and all breathed their last in his arms. We all worked together, grieved when they died and buried them with dignity, our brothers in battle.

Kushner was our medical leader, and his efforts were heroic. The families of the fallen in our POW camp would be proud of how we took care of their loved ones. We loved them too, brothers in an impossible situation.

I was happy to return home in March 1973 to a hero’s welcome in the Philippines, Hawaii, Andrews Air Force Base and my hometown of Lynchburg, Virginia. I moved on with life, as did Kushner and our hearty band from the South, but we will always remember those whose life ended in the prison camps of Quang Nam Province. When a few of us met last year in Americus, Georgia, the first thing we did was speak the names of those who died in our jungle POW camp. We send our words and prayers of comfort to the families of those who died in our camp on this Memorial Day 2017. May God bless you and may He continue to shower His blessings on this great country.

— Harker lives in Forest, Virginia. Kushner, of Ormond Beach, is a longtime member of Volusia County’s medical community. He survived more than five years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, and will be featured in Ken Burns’ 18-hour documentary on “The Vietnam War.”

LINK:
Memorial Day 2017 DAVID HARKER: An angel in hell

 

[Richard]

post-1975 Vietnam: WEATHERMAN, EARL/Status of Private Earl C. Weatherman, 554788058, US Marine Corps

LINK:
post-1975 Vietnam: WEATHERMAN, EARL/Status of Private Earl C. Weatherman, 554788058, US Marine Corps

 

[Richard]

Here is an excerpt from a newspaper story about possible live POW's from the VietNam War still living in VietNam - some 11 years after the war ended in 1975. Earl Weatherman is mentioned in the article. It should be noted that Robert Garwood, a former Marine convicted of Desertion and Aiding the Enemy in time of War was the source of the "sighting" of a live Earl Weatherman.

-----------------------------------

DOCUMENTS, VIET ADD LIFE TO MIA SIGHTINGS
United Press International CHICAGO TRIBUNE (1986)


At least four Americans, listed as missing or dead, have been seen alive in Vietnam, according to recent intelligence documents, and a Vietnamese official for the first time has indicated that some MIAs may be alive.

At a news conference Wednesday, Rep. Gerald Solomon (R., N.Y.), appearing with members of a congressional delegation just back from Hanoi, said: ''We determined the question is not whether there are Americans alive in Southeast Asia. The question becomes: How many are there? Where are they? And for God's sake let's bring them home.''

One of the men reported seen, Earl Clyde Weatherman, 39, of California, disappeared in September, 1967, from Danang after escaping from the brig where he had been confined for striking a marine officer.

Weatherman later was sighted in a Vietcong prison camp, according to a source with access to Defense Intelligence Agency documents. Evidence in the documents on the four men has been made available to United Press International.

The congressional delegation, led by Solomon, reported that their visit Vietnamese Deputy Foreign Minister Hoang Bich Son conceded for the first time that some Americans may be living in Vietnam by their own choice, although he claimed the Vietnamese government is not aware of any specific cases.

The congressmen told the NBC ''Today'' program they could be ''prisoners of war . . . Americans that just stayed over after the war, or . . . deserters.''

''We've received so many live sightings from so many different sources that there just cannot be any question but what they`re there. Because of this new attitude of the Vietnamese government, we really believe that they are now,'' he said.

''The Vietnamese government has shifted from a position of: `There are no Americans in Vietnam` to a position that `There are no Americans under their control,` to the final position as of this week that `There are no Americans under their control, but there could be Americans there they are unaware of.` ''

Solomon attributed this to the fact that ''the country is in economic chaos, and I think that the Vietnamese government is . . . desperate to gain recognition or normalizations, something that is going to lead to their being able to improve their economy by acceptance by the rest of the free world.

''They can`t do that unless they account for these POW-MIAs.''

The Defense Department lists 2,441 people as unaccounted for in the Vietnam War, but nearly all are believed to have been killed in remote places or died at sea.

Robert Garwood, the marine private who was convicted after the war of collaborating with his Vietnamese captors, has given informants information on Weatherman.

Garwood said he participated in a sham ''burial service'' for Weatherman, designed by the camp guards to convince the other American POWs that a successful escape was impossible.

According to Defense Intelligence Agency sources, Weatherman, taking the Vietnamese name Be, was later seen living in or near an internment camp called Yen Bai, northwest of Hanoi and worked at one time for a state-owned construction company...

LINK:
DOCUMENTS, VIET ADD LIFE TO MIA SIGHTINGS

 

[Luckyzmom]

Thanks very much @Richard always appreciate the stories of the men and women in uniform you share with us.

May they all be allowed to return home to their families for burial

 

[pittsburghgirl]

Richard, these stories are quite interesting. Weatherman was certainly a mysterious character.

 

[Richard]

Name: Earl Clyde Weatherman
Rank/Branch: E2/US Marine Corps
Unit:
Date of Birth: (ca 1947)
Home City of Record: Orange CA
Date of Loss: 08 November 1967
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 160400N 1081300E
Status (in 1973): Awol/Deserter
Category: 1
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: ground

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 1998...


...A042 reported that he was buried by montanyards 2 miles from camp. D003
reported that Weatherman told him he was married to a SVN woman, had gone
AWOL to visit her and was taken prisoner during visit. D016 said Weatherman
and Hammond beat VC guard and tried to escape, when recaptured held up
hands. Weatherman shot in the head and Hammond in the leg. D064 said James
Pfister & Bob Lewis buried Weatherman. H100 saw guard return to camp with
his clothes. L050 said Weatherman was buried 15 miles West of Tam Ky. A062,
D068, K051, L031, L049, L050, M134, M137, & P061 all reported on Weatherman.
Garwood said he saw Weatherman alive in a jeep in Hanoi in 1978....

LINK:

POW Bio PAGE of SCOPE SYSTEMS.

 

[Richard]

Earl Weatherman is mentioned in a book titled "Survivors" (1975/1985) by Zalin Grant. It is the story of a number of American soldiers and Marines captured by the Viet Cong and held as Prisoners of War (POW) in jungle camps in South Vietnam and Laos. Some of those POW's died at the hands of their captors, and some survived to the end of the war.

The book's author interviewed nine of the survivors and their accounts appear in the book. Their stories provide a very detailed and graphic look at the conditions under which they suffered and give very specific information regarding the fates of those who died in captivity.

The story of Weatherman's death is related in this manner:

Quoting former POW David Harker (U. S. Army): "Joe Zawtocki told us, 'We tried to escape today. We were unsuccessful. Weatherman was killed and Denny (Lance Cpl. Dennis Wayne Hammond, USMC) was shot in the leg.' "

"Later Denny told us he and Weatherman could hear the Montagnards searching for them. They hid in some thick brush and decided to lay low till nightfall. A Montagnard kid stumbled upon them. They had the guard's rifle but chose not to shoot the kid. He scrambled out and ran away. A bunch of yards arrived a few minutes later, told them to come out with hands up. They left the rifle behind and crawled out. Denny was a little behind and to the right of Weatherman."

"Weatherman stood with his hands in the air. A Montagnard armed with an old Mauser approached. Denny heard Weatherman say, "No!" A bullet took off the back of his head, splattering Denny. The Montagnard pointed the rifle at Denny and pulled the trigger. It misfired. Denny turned and ran down a creek bed. The Montagnard shot, wounding him in the fleshy part of his calf. The yard was coming to finish him off when VC guards arrived from the camp. They saved him. He was taken to the Montagnard village and held for three days without food in a small shed where rats gnawed at him during the night. The yards spat on him and beat him. They undoubtedly thought he would have brought U.S. bombs down on them had his escape attempt succeeded. Garwood (PFC Robert Garwood, USMC - a captured Marine who collaborated with the Viet Cong) brought a written "confession" and advised him to sign it. He signed. The VC returned him to our compound."

Note: Both POWs Joe Zawtocki and Dennis Hammond later died while in Viet Cong captivity.

 

[Richard]

Here is a link to an account by several of Weatherman's fellow POW's. He is mentioned in it:

VIETNAM’S WORST POW CAMP - Part One

 

[Richard]

An excerpt from the below linked source:

USMC PRIVATE EARL CLYDE WEATHERMAN

- USMC Private Earl Clyde Weatherman is a frequent target of false stories about defectors
- Pvt Weatherman disappeared after he escaped from a brig near Danang City on 8 Nov 1967
- Sometime after he escaped from the brig Communist forces captured him
- He was confined with other Americans in mountains of northeast Quang Ngai Province
- Seizing an opportunity, he and another USMC prisoner assaulted a guard, took his weapon, and escaped.
- The two escaped men traveled about two kilometers before pursuers caught them.
- The other escaped prisoner witnessed pursuers kill Private Weatherman.
- In 1994 Vietnamese witnesses led American investigators to the site where they buried Private Weatherman.
- Although Private Weatherman might have encountered disciplinary problems before he was captured, he acted heroically after becoming a prisoner. He resisted his captors and tried to escape when he saw an opportunity.
- Suggestions Private Weatherman was a defector unjustly defames him and his family...

LINK:

PAVN Records Search

 

[Richard]

Semper Fidelis

 

[Richard]

American POW with North Vietnamese Captors 1973

LINK:
Wilson Center Digital Archive

 

[Luckyzmom]

Thanks @Richard very much

 

[Richard]

Interesting document in the Library of Congress:​

WEATHERMAN, EARL/POSITIVE IDENTIFICATION OF CORPORAL DENNIS HAMOND FROM PHOTOGRAPHS​

The caption above refers to a letter signed by Colonel F. H Kushner, MD, US Army (a fellow POW) in which he states that Weatherman was executed by the enemy upon his recapture following his escape from the POW camp. View that document at the below link.

LINK:

WEATHERMAN, EARL/POSITIVE IDENTIFICATION OF CORPORAL DENNIS HAMOND FROM PHOTOGRAPHS

Post-1975 Vietnam

www.loc.gov

 

[Richard]

Remembering US Marine Earl Weatherman on Memorial Day.