 |
Remember...Guy Richard Hively
|
| Guy Hively was born on May 22, 1938, in Roane County, West Virginia, one of eight children born to Dalton and Dorothy Hively. Growing up on a farm near his grandparents Oran and Freda Hively, he hunted, fished and rode horseback. He also enjoyed running and, later, while in the Army he won competitions. Guy had a dog named Rover who would turn down his bed at night and wait for him to come home. |  Courtesy Charleston Daily Mail |
Guy graduated from Clendenin High School in 1958, after which he served in the Army as an infantryman. On June 12, 1961, he married Rita Cassell, and they became the parents of a daughter named Alison.
 Bronze Star citation |
In 1967, Guy re-enlisted and was sent to Vietnam as a member of Company A, 4th Battalion, 47th Infantry, 9th Infantry Division. Prior to leaving, he told his brother, "If something happens to me make sure Mom knows I died happy, because I love the Army." |
| On February 2, 1968, Guy's unit was on its way to assist a sister unit which had been pinned down by the Viet Cong. One of the first casualties of the battle was Guy Hively, who was killed instantly when a rocket propelled grenade hit his tank. Guy's body was returned to the United States and was buried in Elk Hill Memorial Gardens in Elkview. He was posthumously awarded the bronze star medal and the purple heart. |  Funeral for Guy Richard Hively. |
 |
In 1997, Donald P. Fitzwater, a fellow soldier from Ivydale and a friend of Guy's who was present at the time he was killed, located the Hively family and gave them an account of his death. On the morning of February 2, Fitzwater's platoon was chosen to lead a movement to break through and aid the 3rd Battalion, 47th Infantry, which was pinned down near the town of My Tho. During this mission the personnel carriers called "tracks" became mixed up, and Guy's track took a position where Donald Fitzwater's was to be. Fitzwater was talking to his platoon leader when Guy went to the front of his track and climbed aboard. He was entering the TC (track commander) hatch when the Viet Cong ambushed them, and a rocket -propelled grenade hit the machine gun mount and blew him off the track. |  |
Source: Information and photographs supplied by Loretta Grimwood (sister)
West Virginia Archives and History welcomes any additional information that can be provided about these veterans, including photographs, family names, letters and other relevant personal history.
