COLIN DAVID MAC MANUS

Company C 1/22 Infantry

4th Infantry Division

KIA 02/16/1967

 

 

Age: 25
Race: Caucasian
Sex: Male
Date of Birth Aug 29, 1941
From: NEWARK, NJ
Religion: PROTESTANT
Marital Status: Single

CAPT - O3 - Army - Regular
MOS: 1542: Infantry Unit Commander
Length of service 3 years
His tour began on Jan 1, 1967
Casualty was on Feb 16, 1967
In KONTUM, SOUTH VIETNAM
HOSTILE, GROUND CASUALTY
GUN, SMALL ARMS FIRE
Body was recovered

Panel 15E - Line 49

 

Colin MacManus was killed in action while on Operation Sam Houston
at grid reference YA598614, in the Plei Trap Valley, approximately 27 kilometers
west/northwest of Plei Djereng airfield.

 

 

On Feb. 16, 1967 A Company got hit hard and we tore through the jungle to assist. When we were close to A Company's position
a helicopter came over very low and took fire. The Lt. in the front of the column, can't remember his name, stopped the column
and told me to assault to the front, Stonebraker to the left and another guy to the right. We ran leapfrogging doing cover
and movement for about 30 feet when Captain MacManus ran up from the middle of the column and ordered us back
and yelled at the Lt. to keep everyone together.

It was only about a minute later when we ran into the ambush and Captain MacManus ran up again and was shot.
I only saw 2 NVA, and myself and Sgt. Apo emptied a magazine at them as they ran past us about 8 feet away.
I had taken cover from behind a tree and saw the Captain lying in the jungle with bullets hitting the ground around him.
I threw off my pack and weapon and ran out and tried to pick him up but he was too heavy.

Another guy behind a tree was reaching out and trying to pull the Captain so I got on my knees and put my arms around his body
and drug him about two feet forward when I saw a burst of bullets hit the ground and the Captain's body jumped
as he was hit again and I was hit in the right calf. We drug the Captain partially behind a tree and the shooting stopped in our area.
I tried to bandage my wound and a Medic came up and put a dressing and brace on my leg. We got up and went into
A Company's perimeter and were put with 32 other wounded. I laid in the jungle for 14 hours and was the last one pulled out
by cable from a Chinook.

If Captain MacManus had not stopped us the first time, I am sure the three of us would not have made it, as it was,
the three of us and others were wounded, but I have no doubt he saved our lives.

Jim Liles Company C 1/22 Infantry 1966-1967

 

 

Captain Colin MacManus' decorations

 

Colin is also eligible to receive
the Distinguished Service Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster
and Vietnam Service Medal
from the State of New Jersey

 

 

**********************

 

 

Colin,------------------

I go to the Wall each year.

I touch your name.

I have carried your memory

within my heart forever

---------------------Theresa

 

 

 

**********************

 

 

 

Colin MacManus is buried at Hollywood Cemetery, Union, NJ

 

 

 

Colin MacManus attended Rutgers University and graduated in 1963. His name is inscribed on the
Rutgers University Vietnam Memorial.

 

Rutgers University Vietnam Memorial

"In memory of Rutgers Alumni who died or are missing in action in Southeast Asia, 1962 - 1975"

Memorial commemorates the Rutgers graduates who died in Vietnam or are missing in action. Memorial was erected
through a fund drive undertaken by the alumni of the Rutgers University Class of 1965. Black granite was fabricated
by Cold Spring Granite Company and following contractors donated labor, landscaping, and concrete for the memorial:
John Tavernese, of Piscataway; Speranza Brickwork, of Whitehouse; Lehrer McGovern Bovis, of Piscataway;
Joseph A. Natoli Construction Corporation, of Pine Brook; Epic, Inc.; Torsilieri, Inc., of Gladstone; F. F. Phillips, Inc.
The memorial was vandalized just before its dedication. Skateboarders use the sidewalk and ramp.

The memorial plaza installation is comprised of three sections of polished black granite on a three-stepped, concrete platform,
with a sidewalk ramp incorporated into the platform on one side. The central black granite piece is a wall located at the rear
of the platform with seventeen slotted, triangular projections with sixteen names of alumni killed or missing in action in
Southeast Asia, including date of graduation. A sandblasted map of Vietnam is on the front face of the wall. A wedge-shaped
section of black granite flanks the steps on the side of the platform with the ramp, and a cube-shaped section of black granite
flanks the other side. The sidewalk passes in front of the memorial.

Colin MacManus' name and graduation year inscribed on the Rutgers University Vietnam Memorial

 

From the Flickr Sheena 2.0™'s photostream

 

 

 

 

 

Colin Macmanus' name is engraved on the New Jersey Vietnam Veterans Memorial

 

Photo from the DistantCousin.com website

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


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