Eric Marvin Barnes – Captain, United States Marine Corps

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Full Name: ERIC MARVIN BARNES
Date of Birth: 5/4/1942
Date of Casualty: 3/25/1967
Home of Record: WINDSOR, CONNECTICUT
Branch of Service: MARINE CORPS
Rank: CAPT
Casualty Country: SOUTH VIETNAM
Casualty Province: QUANG NAM

Marine Captain Eric M. Barnes, 24, of Waterbury, Connecticut, formerly of Windsor, recently awarded the Silver Star Medal in Vietnam, was killed Saturday, it was announced by the Marine Corps.

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Captain Barnes was fatally injured in the “abdomen and thigh from an explosive device while on patrol,” according to the Marine Corps. The incident occured near Da Nang.

He received the Silver Star Medal at a recent ceremony at Da Nang for braving deadly enemy fire to turn a North Vietnamese army ambush into a death trap for enemy forces, it was reported.

Captain Barnes spent a short leave later in Honolulu, Hawaii, with his wife, Noreen Butler Barnes, of 61 Joy Rd., Waterbury. Mrs. Barnes returned to Waterbury a few days ago with the citation which her husband received for bravery during the action on September 24, 1966.

Recently he was also promoted to the rank of Captain and transferred to the 1st Force Co., 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division.

Captain Barnes was serving as platoon commander with the “C” Co., 1st Battalion, 26th Marine Regiment and was in charge of an escort detail for a tank-infantry column when they were ambushed by approximately 40 North Vietnamese army regulars. Two tanks were hit by enemy anti-tank rocket fire.

“Quickly assessing the situation and disregarding his own personal safety, Barnes left the tank on which he was riding and organized perimeter defense,” The citation said.

He directed his men in returning fire, protecting the wounded and coordinating air strikes on the enemy positions. Under Barnes' leadership, the tank column routed the enemy and moved to the safety of friendly positions. Eleven enemy troops were killed during the action.

“By his exceptional courage,” the citation reads, “daring initiative, military proficiency and loyal devotion to duty, Barnes upheld the highest tradition of the United States Naval Service.”

Captain Barnes was a graduate of Loomis School and Tufts University, Class of 1964, where he was in an ROTC unit. He was commissioned the following September and assigned to Vietnam last July.

Besides his widow, he leaves his mother, Mrs. Eric W. Barnes of Windsor, and South Harwich, Massachusetts; a son, Eric William Barnes, 22 months; and a daughter, Dierdra Elizbeth eight months.

Troy Man Killed in Viet Action

A former Troy Marine Captain has been killed in action near Da Nang, Vietnam.

He is Captain Eric Marvin Barnes, 24, son of the late Eric W. Barnes, who was head of the Russell Sage College English department, and Mrs. Barnes, now of Windsor, Connecticut.

Captain Barnes, who had served in the Navy before entering the Marine Corps, was recently awarded a Silver Star.

He was educated in schools in Carlisle, Pennsylvania; Berlin, Germany; the old Willard Day School in Troy; the Loomis School in Windsor and Tufts University.

He was shot from ambush while on patrol. He had just completed a leave in Honolulu with his wife, the former Noreen Butler of Waterbury, Connecticut.

In addition to his wife and mother, he is survived by two children, Eric and Deirdre; a brother, Charles of Windsor; his maternal grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Dwight Marvin of Tryon, North Carolina, formly of Troy; and his paternal grandmother, Mrs. William Barnes of Memphis, Tennessee.

Burial will be in Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia.

SEMPER FIDELIS, SIR!
Thanks to Sylvia Augusteijn, Digital Collections and Archives, Tufts University for her help in recovering the above information.

BARNES, ERIC MARVIN
Captain, United States Marine Corps

  • DATE OF BIRTH: 05/04/1942
  • DATE OF DEATH: 03/25/1967
  • BURIED AT: SECTION 10  SITE 10610-A
    ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY

BARNES, NOREEN B

  • DATE OF BIRTH: 12/11/1941
  • DATE OF DEATH: 04/02/1997
  • BURIED AT: SECTION 10  SITE 10610-A
    ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY
    WIFE  E. M. BARNES, CAPTAIN, USMC

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