19 August 1968

Returned Home July 4, 1994

Another Hero Returns after 26 Years.

 

Buried a Son on July 4th

Story by Capt. John Millman, PAO, 4thMarDiv

Photos by PAC Chuck Kainbach, USCG

He missed 26 birthdays, Christmases, and Memorial Days with his family. For his family back
in Indiana, the time was a period of waiting. Now, the waiting is over.

Appropriately, on July 4, Corporal Terry A. Hoffman cam home to Danville from Vietnam.

"We thought for a long time, because of the way Terry went down, that they would never find
anything. So we're thankful an very grateful," said his father, Edgar Hoffman.

Terry Hoffman was a veteran of more than 500 combat helicopter missions. He was killed
Aug. 19, 1968, in Quang Tri Province while picking up Marines from another downed CH-46 helicopter.
Cpl Hoffman, a crew chief with Marine Medium Helicopter 262, was trying to assess the damage to the other
Sea Knight when his own aircraft was caught in a hail of large-caliber automatic weapons fire, according to
retired Colonel M. J. Steinberg, who was the squadron commander at the time.

The remains of two other crewmen, Cpl Patrick C. Miles and Cpl John W. Hutchinson, were recovered
the next day. Due to the extensive destruction of the aircraft, all indications were that Hoffman's remains
had been consumed in the crash, and he was listed as "killed in actions, remains not recovered."

That was until a Vietnamese located the remains in 1989 and turned them over to U. S. officials who were
in Hanoi on July 12, 1993, as part of the Joint Task Force - Full Accounting. His remains were then sent to
the Central Identification Laboratory, Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii.

After Cpl Hoffman's remains were identified in May, they were flown to Indianapolis July 1, escorted by
his nephew, Marine Reserve Second Lieutenant Randall S. Hoffman, who was 2 years old when Cpl Hoffman
died in Southeast Asia. They were met by a Marine Corps Reserve honor guard from Company K, 3d
Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment who had volunteered for the duty.

The funeral was held at the local high school. Cpl Hoffman's flag draped casket was then taken by caisson
through the center of town and past the Hendricks County War Memorial which bears his name among
others. Hundreds of residents silently watched the solemn procession and listened to the muffled drums
and the roar of Indian Air Nation Guard F-16 jets in a "missing man" formation.

Cpl Hoffman's mother, Geraldine, touched by the tribute, remarked to a friend. "They're doing everything
they did for [President John F.] Kennedy."

Shirley Heck, a childhood friend said. "You think, "What price freedom?", Terry paid the price."

Reserve Captain John F. Liphardt said, "Marines have a tradition of taking care of their own. We took
care of him. I felt an immense amount of pride in the Marine Corps and the way we were able to honor
their [the Hoffman's'] son.

Terry was doing the kind of stuff Marines do [when he was killed]. He was out there giving of himself
all the time and doing the best job he could do."