812. Milton's Green Beret Killed in Action 1967 Vietnam

Updated: Aug 16, 2022

There's hardly a town in the United States that has not been touched in some way by the brutality of the Vietnam War! And sadly, Milton, Florida would be no different. This is the story of 1st Lieutenant Edwin Lenard Shubert Jr. who served with the US Special Forces in the Mekong Delta. He was born on February 13, 1942 in Pensacola, Florida, the son of Edwin Sr. (1910-1976) from New Orleans and Jassamine Crist (1909-1986). His parents would marry in Santa Rosa County on August 6, 1934, the year his mother graduated from Florida State College for Women with her BS degree. His father would enlist and serve in the US Navy as a LTJG during WWII and retired in March 1958.

As for Edwin Jr., he would attend Milton High School where he graduated in 1960 and three years later, he enlisted in the US Army. He volunteered for the Army's prestigious Special Forces but first had to pass a rigorous testing process and was required to be airborne qualified. He reported into Ft. Bragg, North Carolina to begin the Special Forces training school on January 4, 1966. He would graduate on June 10 of that same year and was told that he would most likely be heading for Vietnam with the rest of his classmates. One of his classmates was Cary C. Ward Jr. from nearby Pensacola, Florida. but for whatever reason, he was shipped to Vietnam ahead of Edwin in September and sent to Phu Quoc Island.

Edwin on the other hand was shipped over on October 13, 1966 and by June 1967 wound up as the executive officer of SF camp #433 at My An (also referred to as My Da). His A-team was led by Captain Harold E. Hoitt and the camp was still in the process of being constructed. It was officially opened on March 7 as A-426 but since it was operating under the B-43 command, the camp’s designation was changed to A-433. The new camp was located at the intersection of two canals, the Kinh Thap Muoi and the Kinh Tu Moi, and was placed there to close the two canals to enemy canal traffic. The camp was to be built on flotation devices so it could float above the water during the monsoon season floods and rest on dry ground the rest of the year. While under construction Captain Hoitt asked for assistance from Captain John T. Haralson’s team at #411 My Phuoc Tay along the same Kinh Tu Moi Canal. His class mate Cary Ward had been transferred there on February 7, 1967. But the Viet Cong had no intention of allowing this camp to be constructed and on June 8, they struck with superior numbers. Sgt. Bennie McDonald and Spec4 Patrick I. Sullivan were on loan from #411 and stated that they thought they were going to die that night. As the SF continued to fight back, they were forced to call in "Puff the Magic Dragon" gunship who annihilated the attacking forces with its devastating firepower.

Shortly thereafter, the teams from A-411, A-433, and A-416 (Ap Bac) were notified of a joint operation that would be under the command of the B-team which is what the Special Forces teams hated. Every operation they ever ran under the B-team command had been compromised due to security leaks. In the past, they would wind up walking miles through mud and rain and never seeing an enemy soldier or else they were ambushed and got cut to ribbons. Edwin's classmate Cary Ward, now with #411, had just experienced this same thing in a battle on June 8.

The operation was to commence on June 28 but what made the SF nervous was it was being run in the same area as the B-teams debacle on June 8. Now, the same set of circumstances was happening all over again! The SF command was sending in ten companies of Civilian Irregular Defense Groups or CIDG volunteer soldiers (about 2½ battalions) into the operation but the Viet Cong knew in advance as to how the Special Forces group would be deploying their forces. So, they knew exactly how to set up their defenses to trap them. And this time the SF were going up against the enemy’s 263rd Main Force VC battalion. With great trepidation, Cary was preparing to go but was replaced at the last moment due to his participation in the June 8 fight.

As for the #411 team, they sent several elements into the operation where they received heavy weapons fire and mortar rounds. But they should have been more involved than they were but for the actions of their LLDB (Vietnamese Special Forces) officer. He refused to go to the aide of one of his platoons that was being cut off and attacked. Mortar rounds were being fired in his direction and this made him powerless to make a decision. This platoon had branched off from the main company to check out a suspected area where the VC mortars were thought to be. This platoon of 25 men and SF Advisor SSGT Thomas F. Walles (Wally) were being decimated and pinned down. Five were killed and seven were wounded reducing the platoon to half its fighting strength. Finally, and without the help of the Vietnamese officer they were able to crawl out after two hours.

But for the most part it was #433 that caught the brunt of the casualties. Opposing them, the Viet Cong had two .50 caliber machine guns, a lot of light machine guns, plus 82-mm mortars. During the #433 team's part of the fight, Lt. Shubert volunteered to help evacuate casualties from a CIDG company that were engaged under heavy enemy fire. He was able to successfully bring three wounded soldiers to a waiting helicopter before organizing a fierce counterattack. In the heat of the battle, Lt. Shubert was bent over his radio seeking assistance from Sergeant Walles from A-411 at My Phuoc when he was shot through the head and killed. Two other SF troopers were killed in the battle as well. SSGT Ronald Edward Fike (1942-1967) from Burnet, Texas was also killed. He was the one that rescued Bennie McDonald and Patrick Sullivan from My Phuoc Tay less than three weeks before. Also lost was Spec 4 Michael Gregory Brown (1948-1967) from El Segundo, California. Lt. Shubert from Milton would receive the nation's second highest award for bravery in direct contact with the enemy, the Silver Star. Please note that his death details differ slightly from his Silver Star writeup however Sgt. Walles was there during the battle. Both versions are heroic and both speak well of his courage and sacrifice for his country!

Naturally, the field troops blamed the leadership of the B-team commander for the debacle. He apparently was controlling the operation from a chopper high above and was maneuvering his troops so poorly that he was relieved of command the next day. As to the others, three days after the battle on June 30, My Phuoc Tay's dead arrived at their own camp as the men set about burying them. Back home in Milton, Lt. Shubert's remains arrived for his own burial services in July at Barrancas National Cemetery.