 |
Remember...Jerry Edward Auxier
|
The last time anyone saw U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Jerry Edward Auxier was on July 29, 1968, as the Nicholas County man made his way—with several other soldiers in his company, to the top of a hill in Vietnam's Quang Tin Province, not far from the Laotian border—to unload an approaching resupply helicopter. (Rick Steelhammer, "Back to Vietnam: Search for MIA Soldier Detailed for Nicholas County Family," Charleston Gazette Mail, 16 January 2025.)
Steelhammer writes with poignancy of the virtual meeting of Michael Cunningham of Massachusetts and Elaine Auxier Stone, Jerry's widow, on January 13, 2025. Cunningham related how the helicopter was downed by a bomb planted under the landing area on the hill and triggered by the enemy. Three of the soldiers in the party were killed outright and their bodies recovered, and 12 were wounded. Jerry's remains, however, were not recovered (and he continues to be listed as missing in action).
The search for Jerry's remains was discontinued soon after the event, but Cunningham had not given up, and he finally convinced the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency to resume the search. Cunningham became the 11th member of a DPAA team to go back to Vietnam for a preliminary search in March 2017. Thus, on January 13, 2025, Cunningham presented their findings to an audience at American Legion John Brawley Post 20—an audience that included Elaine. In Vietnam, the team had located at the hill a number of artifacts associated with the incident, but no evidence of Auxier. According to Steelhammer, Cunningham remains convinced that they were close to finding Auxier's remains. The terms of the agreement with the Vietnamese government restricted the depth to which they could dig, and he believes a more comprehensive search will be productive. Although Cunningham and Auxier were not close, Cunningham has long felt the commitment to determine what happened to Jerry.
The story of Staff Sergeant Jerry Edward Auxier begins when he was born January 19, 1944, in Gauley Bridge, Fayette County, West Virginia, to Collis and Ethel Frances Auxier. Jerry had an older sister, Garrnett Jean (married name: Gibson) and a younger brother, Larry James. The Auxiers had another son, Virgil, born in 1954, who lived only to the age of 12. Jerry grew up in the community of Dixie in Nicholas County, where he attended the public schools. In 1965, he married Elaine Carolyn Gunnoe, and they had a son, Ronald, and a daughter, Teresa.
Teresa was born after Jerry's deployment to Vietnam and never got to meet her father. Numerous posts from comrades-in-arms in the "Remembrances" area of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund website note the respect that they felt for him. The following summary of a recent post by "A Fellow Soldier" recounts the events of July 29, 1968:
Staff Sergeant Jerry Edward Auxier entered the U.S. Army from West Virginia and served in Company C, 1st Battalion, 46th Infantry Regiment, 198th Light Infantry Brigade, the Americal Division. On July 29, 1968, his unit was in a night defensive position north of the city of Tam Ky in Quang Tin Province, South Vietnam. The company commander directed that a search be made of the area for booby traps before the men dug into their positions, but no traps were found. Soon after setting up their position, a helicopter approached to resupply the unit. SSG Auxier and other members of the unit proceeded up the hill to the landing zone to unload the aircraft.Unknown to anyone, North Vietnamese forces had planted an estimated 500-pound explosive at the landing zone, and when the helicopter was landing, the bomb was detonated, destroying the helicopter and killing and wounding several men. All of the wounded and dead were recovered and accounted for with the exception of SSG Auxier. All things considered, Auxier, if he was withing the blast area, had no chance of survival, and would not be found.
All witnesses stated that just prior to the blast, Auxier was seen in the blast area. However, not until all dead and wounded were evacuated was Auxier discovered to be missing. Extensive search efforts were conducted by his unit but they failed to locate him. He is still unaccounted for. Today, Staff Sergeant Auxier is memorialized on the Courts of the missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. ("Honor Him," Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, 30 August 2024, accessed 18 February 2025, https://www.vvmf.org/Wall-of-Faces/1733/JERRY-E-AUXIER/)
| A Purple Heart recipient as a result of his sacrifice, S/Sgt. Auxier is memorialized not only in the Grafton National Cemetery and on the Courts of the Missing at the National Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii, but also on the Vietnam Wall in the nation's capital and the Veterans Memorial in Charleston, West Virginia. If Michael Cunningham's perception is correct, there is still a chance that Auxier's remains will be located. |  Marker memorializing S/Sgt. Jerry Edward Auxier, placed by his wife Elaine Auxier Stone. As of the time of this writing, his remains have not been recovered. Courtesy of Grafton National Cemetery |
Article prepared by Patricia Richards McClure
February 2025
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.
