NAME: MULLAN CHARLES RICHARD JR. RANK: SGT HOME: BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA SEX: MALE DATE OF BIRTH: 12/16/46 AGE: 20 MARITAL STATUS: SINGLE SERVICE: NAVY, REGULAR PAY GRADE: HN OCCUPATION (MOS): DATE OF DEATH: 06/28/67 CASUALTY PLACE: SOUTH VIETNAM CASUALTY TYPE: HOSTILE - KILLED BODY STATUS: BODY RECOVERED
A Sister's Thoughts
It has been said repeatedly that those who served in Vietnam were either poor, under-educated or hawks. My brother was none of these. In 1966, he was a clean-cut 19 year old, working and taking college classes, when the Draft Board started breathing down his neck. He really didn't understand what the war was all about; none of our family members did. He only knew it was not something he wanted to die for. Nor did his conscience allow him to flee the country. So he tried to join the Navy Reserve. It was full and they "wait listed" him. He joined the Navy and became a hospital corpseman. In this capacity, he could serve his country without compromising his desire not to kill. He would be helping and saving lives, not carrying a gun. What he did not know was that the Marines do not have their own medics. They use Navy hospital corpseman.
So he was sent to Vietnam with a Marine Division. After 2 months there, he was killed at the age of 20, while on a patrol in the Demilitarized Zone, when he stepped on a Claymore mine.
It's always a catastrophe to lose someone you love. But to lose someone in an unpopular war made it even harder. To be living in Berkeley at the time made it a living hell. Having just buried your son, imagine watching the hostility with which returning veterans were treated, and knowing that this is the treatment he would have received had he been one of the lucky ones to to survive. Imagine trying to go about the mundane tasks of daily life, knowing your son had died at the hands of the Viet Cong or North Vietnamese. You go into downtown Berkeley and see a Viet Cong flag waving and then buildings with the words "Go Ho Chi Min" written on them. In your own hometown, you see hate for those returning from the horrors of war and protests that far exceed a cry against war and death. You see one that supports and encourages the very people directly responsible for your only son"s death. Imagine watching anti- war protesters angrily waving signs with the names of the war dead on them, using your son's death and name to further their own cause -- protestors who were not there when you said your last goodbyes, protestors who were not there when your son came home in a body bag, protestors who were not there when they handed his mother a folded flag at his graveside, protestors who seemed to have no compassion for the profound sorrow of others right in their own community. Even a short note from someone in Berkeley governement or the protest movement saying "Sorry for your loss," would have helped so much.
It was right to protest this war, but the methodology and insensitiivity are extrememly difficult to forgive. That's why I feel today's long overdue recognition for the ultimate sacrifice made by these young Berkeleyans is important to them and their families.
My brother's death in Vietnam has had a profound impact on my life. I no longer trust my government, knowing it was U.S. policies, based on lies and misjudgements, that dragged us into Vietnam, continued a senseless war, and ended the dreams of my brother and the 58,000 other Americans who died. I have become fearful. I'm aftraid to encourage my 20-year-old son to become the helicopter pilot he wants to be, if it means the must enter military service. I'm horrified by the suffering I see in Bosnia and other troubled areas of the world, but I will not sacrifice my children to help.
How I wish I could believe my brother died for our freedom, but I don't. Perhaps he died simply to save my chidren, for they now have a mother who will do all in her power to see that her chidren never shed blood on foreign soil.
I thank all of you who offer today's gesture. I consider this memorial to be the missing note that says "We're sorry for your loss."
Barbara Lewis, sister of Charles Richard Mullan, Jr., November 11, 1995
To the Mullan family: My dad had a sabbatical from his teaching position in Chicago and we moved to Berkeley so that he could work at the university in the early 1960s. I was at what was then Garfield Jr. High, and Dick was at Berkeley High. We lived around the block from one another.
I don’t remember how we originally became friends. Dick was an older brother to me. He got me a job delivering the Berkeley Gazette in Kensington, and we went on bike rides around the East Bay, a camping trip with our mutual friend, Greg Evans to Stinson beach, and spent a lot of time hanging out. I wanted to be like him and envied how he could take his German Shorthair Pointer Cindy on his paper route while if I so much as let our beagle out the door without a leash, Scuffy would be off and out of sight
Seth Cropsey <>
- Monday, June 29, 2009, 3:42:41 PM
God Bless you and your family. I am certain he is right around you. Chris Boisvert 11/7/01
When I read these memorials it saddens me to know that there is a greiving family behind each one. As a Vietnam veteran I am happy to see the Virtual Wall allow families to remember their loved ones. You are not forgotten Charles, you will forever live in the hearts and minds of everyone who knew and loved you. Thank you Charles, RIP Frank Tresenrider
Frank Tresenrider bco.ceagle@verizon.net California 11/7/01
At the age of 20 a young man knows nothing of life. You are still a boy in so many ways. Getting killed in Vietnam was as easy as making a simple mistake back home. You had no protection and no guarantees of survival.That is war and believe me it will make a man mature quickly. There must be a special place for young men like your brother and son in heaven, because they give so much and get so little out of life. I sincerely feel for you and can only think I feel the void you have in your life. You deserve better than that,but there are no avenues in life to make you feel alright. I was in an infantry line unit in Vietnam and came home. I was lucky. But, for 58,000 others it did not work out that way. What a terrible waste of quality men and terrible destruction of millon of lives. God bless you and your son and brother for what you have had to endure.
Jim Daniels JimDaniels@prodigy.net Rocky Mount, NC 27804 11/7/01
AFTER ALL THESE YEARS MANY OF US STILL MISS PEOPLE WE SERVED WITH WE CAN NOT FORGET THEM BECAUSE THEY WILL ALWAYS BE WITH US. I HAVE FOUND MANY NEW FRIENDS THAT UNDERSTAND WHAT MANY OF US WENT THROUGH. I WAS A MARINE AT AGE 19 and have great respect for your brother and all navy corpman. they were always there for us. god bless him.
JJT LOMBARD,IL USA 11/7/01
Way down at the bottom of this page, Leon David Brownstone asks "Should the people who were responsible for the deaths of over 2,000,000 Vietnamese and over 50,000 U.S. youth (like your brother) be forgiven? Should they be allowed to continue their crimes in places like Panama and Iraq?" The answer, obviously, is "NO!" While we can't dig up Ho Chi Minh and hang him, we can honor those willing to risk their necks to protect those less able to do so. I wonder where Mr. Brownstone was during the Vietnam era? During Desert Storm? And where he will be tomorrow? In Afganistan or safe at home, protected by those who are willing to be on the front lines? "All that is required for evil to triumph, is for good men to do nothing." - Edmund Burke Hospitalman Charles Mullan did something, God rest his soul ... and I salute him for it.
K J Davis, Commander, USN (Ret) Vietnam 68-70
Kenneth J Davis kjdavis@kjdpc.com Toccoa, Georgia, United States of America 11/6/01
I happened on this site accidentally and want to say to you that, though many people who were protesting the war in those days had the mistaken attitude against service people that you describe, most of them/us did not champion the other side, just wanted the war to stop because the lost lives seemed so pointless. And that now, those same ones of us have for years felt a great deal of compassion toward the ones who fought, knowing how much of a trap it was (I've read many accounts on line from men who were there), how damaging it was to have been there, and how naive we and they and the government all were. Please don't be bitter now; we just didn't know. Your brother sounds like my husband, who was in the Army Reserves, someone who didn't want to kill anybody and angled to get into a non-fighting section, and I respect that like anything. And I respect you to keep your sons out of harm's way. Most people, men and women, including ourselves, would fight like hell if we were threatened here, but would not want to put ourselves (and certainly not our sons and grandsons)at risk for someone else's idea of when and where a war should take place. Again, most of us in those days in Berkeley (despite the signs you saw) were fighting and marching to save the very lives that were lost. I am very sorry about your brother (if I had known, I would have said that then). I feel sad thinking about him and feel I miss his presence here; I am sure he would have made a valuable contribution; he would have been only a few years younger than me. My thoughts go with you and your children and your aunt and other members of your family if they are still alive.
Sheryll formerly from Berkeley 10/29/01
respects Jedidiah Stern Houstoun 9/3/01
Charles Richard Mullan: You are not forgotten. I also was a Hospital Corpsman (Hn) in Vietnam. I served from Dec 67-Dec 68. A Co. 1/26 Marines 2nd platoon. I didn't know Charles, but, I want to offer my condolances to his family and friends. May he rest in peace. "The streets and Highways of American freedom are paved with the blood of her Veterans, and the tears of those that loved them, let them not be forgotten". (unknown) "You've never lived until you've almost died, for those who fought for it, life has a flavor the protected will never know". (unknown). SF~Doc Z~
Rick Zunino DocHill861@aol.com Toppenish, Wa. USA 6/28/01
Barbara do not know how else to contact you- did your family arrive in California from Canada?
Dor Mullan phildor@sympatico.ca Canada 6/19/01
I read this article while doing an assignment for school. This really hits home, we lost my father-in-law in October of 1999 from cancer due to prolonged Agent Orange exposure from Vietnam. My mother-in-law is active in getting Veteran's to the VA for the free Agent Orange exam, due to my father-in-law's death. I am sorry about your loss.
Jim and Christina tragicallyyours@aol.com Southaven, MS - USA 2/27/01
"Those we love never leave us"
J. Mullan
John J. Mullan
meok@cybernex.net
Edison, NJ 08820
1/16/01
I am sorry for your lose. I found your page looking for another dedication. Yours stood out. I would like to say again I am sorry for your lose not matter how long it has been.
L.J.H.B. cmadlock@bellsouth.net Jackson, Mississippi USA 1/1/01
SEMPER FI1 DOC! SALVADOR ALANIZ JR EL PASO, TEXAS, USA 9/28/00
SEMPER FI1 DOC! SALVADOR ALANIZ JE EL PASO, TEXAS, USA 9/28/00
andy sadler asadler18@hotmail.com Mississippi 9/18/00
Even I am not an American, I can feel the pain when I see this site. The matter of fact what war does to people, to families, makes me cry. Why we can´t live in a world without any hate or pain?
Guido Offer guido.offer@wtal.de Wuppertal, NRW, Germany 9/17/00
I am sorry for your loss I am married to a vietam vet,who served about the same time Charles Richard did.God bless your family.
QUETTA COX mqcox@juno.com columbus,ms 7/14/00
rip brenda 5/4/00
I am very sorry for you loss.I am a 28 year old young lady
I am one of the lucky one who's father came home safe and sound. I thank your bother from the bottem of my heart for what he did for me and my country.. I believe that all the men and women who died in vietam war died to give us freedom that we all deserve.. I will always and forever honor and respect those who died in the war.. May god bless you and your family for the rest of your lives.
God bless you and your family,
tina
Tina Catena tinastlc@aol.com Boonville,In U.S.A. 2/27/00
I am verry sorry for you loss.. I am a 28 year old young lady that was on of the lucky one who had her father come home safe.. I thank your bother from the bottom of my heart for what he did for our country.. I do believe your bother and all the other men and women who died in the vietnam war died to give us freedom that we deserve..
May god blesse you and your family for the rest of your lives...
God bless you and your family
Tina
tina catena tinastlc@aol.com Boonville,In U.S.A. 2/27/00
Thank you for this wonderful site and
the oppurtunity to add my comments. Charles must have truly been a wonderful person to
have received this honor. Personally I feel that any man that has paid the ultimate price
for his country deserves this and more. I served twice in combat myself, I was in the
invasion of Panama and the Gulf War. I lost some very good friends in both places and
cannot think about them without tearing up and breaking down. Honor and Valor are truly
inspirational things and I salute your efforts to remember that Charles exhibited both
just by being there. For any other veteran reading this page whether you served in combat
or not remember that you gave something valuable: yourself....you gave the gift of being
there if the need ever arose. That is time you can never get back and you invested it in
the defense of this nation. I Love this country and I also love any person who serves in
defense of it. My Dear Son, Rich, I was saddened, I still have a son born in 43' and I was saddened, I still have a son born in 43' and inlisted in the
army 62' have younger sons too.My heart goes out to you. Freedom Isn't Free Semper Fi, Doc. I am so sorry you lost your brother in this travesty. My own two
brothers did not lose their lives there but they lost other things irrevocably. You can at
least know that your brother made a very real and essential contribution to the lives of
other- as a corpsman, he and others like him were responsible for the brothers that did
come home. For that I am grateful
As I read about HN Mullan, I was reminded of so many Hospital
Corpsmen I have trained and served with over the years. Some of the finest men and women
in the world, all different, all unique, and all proud to be serving their country and
their Marines. HN Mullan proudly wore his adopted service's uniform, that was a choice.
And his eternal title from a grateful Corps will always be "Doc." No politics,
no debates. He was a man who gave his life while serving his friends and his country. He
could have given no more. For those of us who follow you, God bless you Doc, and your
family. May you always have " Fair Winds and Following Seas," you and all our
Shipmates still on patrol. This is very good place.Great job done.Keep on working this way. As a 18year old marine in S.Vietnam I somtimes wonder what that whole
war was about I am sorry that you died so many miles from home I have deep respect for all
Navy Corpsman in Vietnam who gave there lives so others can live.Thanks Semp Fi.Brother Thank you for sharing. n My spiritual plane arrived at this web site one night when I'm sorry for your grievances and only hope that you now that there
are many more people who are trying to undersatnd what happened in Vietnam. I can only
hope that we as a nation can understand that these men were told what to do, and they
acted not on their of own will but on our governments. I do not personally hold them
responsible for the carnage that happened. I'm sorry for the pain and agony that you and
your family have had to endure. Please know that my condolences are with you. DEAR FAMILY OF CHARLES RICHARD MULLAN, JR. 11-11-95 JACK MC CLOSKY Vietnam Veteran HOSPITAL CORPSMAN with the
MARINES in I CORPS and old friend was helping grieving family members at our ceremony. He
told me that he was in the same company as Richard Mullan but not in the same place at the
same time. JACK MC CLOSKY died Friday February 15, 1996 in San Francisco of a heart
attack. He leaves two wonderful daughters and thousands of friends and comrades. The
VIETNAM WAR killed him thats for shure. He was a real hero and a true comrade. SEMPER FI. Reqiuem atearnam, dona eis domine. Scrawled letters, yellowed photos,
and shaky memories are what I know of my uncle. God rest his soul in the forever quaking
earth. Lord help my mother and grandfather get through each day without grievences. Never
acquainted nephew of Charles Richard Mullan Jr. Here we are on the internet, This is old, because I know my thoughts
are already sent through God. We know what we feel and mean The night Charlie phoned (Dick's dad) I couldn't talk - I was so
shocked and upset. I had to hand the I knew Dick briefly during the 60's. My wife is one of his cousins.
Dick was a very thoughtful person, very caring about his family. Mullan, you were a true and loyal friend. I think about you From the description and comments, it appears that Charles was among
the millions of U.S. working-class young men who was sent, with lies and coercion, to kill
and be killed in the interests of the very rich. Should the people who were responsible
for the deaths of over 2,000,000 Vietnamese and over 50,000 U.S. youth like him be
forgiven? Should they be allowed to continue their crimes in places like Panama and Iraq? rest in peace Born in Berkeley on 12/16/46; killed in Vietnam 6/28/67,
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