 |
Remember...John Louis Brumbaugh Jr.
|
John Louis Brumbaugh Jr. was born on July 27, 1949, in Martinsburg, West Virginia. His parents were John Brumbaugh Sr. and Edna Mae Kelly Brumbaugh. John had an older brother, James Brumbaugh. According to the 1950 Federal Census, he had sisters Doreen and Edna. Various family trees on Ancestry.com refer to additional siblings and half-siblings, but not by name. John grew up in Berkeley County, West Virginia, during the 1950s and went to St. Joseph's High School. Not much is known about his high school experience other than the fact that he played school baseball. He was a good friend to people. According to his peers, he was the type of person that you could trust with anything. He was a fun man to be around and had a good sense of humor. Right after high school, he joined the military.
In 1955, when John was five years old, the Vietnam War started. It was a long, costly, and divisive conflict that pitted the communist government of North Vietnam against South Vietnam and its principal ally, the United States. More than three million people (including John) were killed in the Vietnam War, and more than half of the dead were Vietnamese civilians. Both North and South Vietnam wanted the same thing: a unified Vietnam. But while Ho Chi Minh (leader of North Vietnam) and his supporters wanted a nation modeled after other communist countries, Ngo Dinh Diem (leader of South Vietnam) and many others wanted a Vietnam with close economic and cultural ties to the West. The United States military assisted South Vietnam forces. The ongoing Cold War prompted the United States involvement in the Vietnam War. Many people in the United States did not support the war. They thought it was morally wrong. The United States also spent a lot of money on the war that some people believe could have been used for its own problems.
| John enlisted as a private first class in the U.S. Marine Corps and went on tour in South Vietnam on February 16, 1969, as a rifleman in A company, 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, 1st MARDIV, III MAF. The 1st MARDIV is the oldest, largest, and most decorated Marine division. Before he went on tour, he said to his friend, "I told you man, I'm gonna die in Vietnam." John's time in Vietnam was short lived, with his death just four days into his tour. He was killed in action on February 23, 1969, in Quang Nam, South Vietnam. Shot by enemy fire, his body was eventually recovered and buried in Rosedale Cemetery in Martinsburg, West Virginia. John's sacrifice earned him a Purple Heart.
|
 Marine Pfc. John Louis Brumbaugh Jr. Courtesy of Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund |
To commemorate John's bravery, in 2023, the West Virginia Legislature requested that the Division of Highways rename a bridge after him. Opequon Creek Bridge, carrying WV 09 over Opequon Creek in Berkeley County, was renamed as "U.S. Marine Corps, PFC John Louis ‘Johnny' Brumbaugh, Jr. Memorial Bridge." His name is also on Panel W32, Line 91, on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C. Although his time was short lived, dying at just 19, his legacy and his bravery will never be forgotten.
Bibliography
"America's Involvement: More Than Self. Living the Vietnam War," Atlanta History Center website, accessed 17 June 2025, https://www.atlantahistorycenter.com/exhibitions/more-than-self-living-the-vietnam-war/americas-involvement/#:~:text=Over%20the%20course%20of%20the,canals%3B%20mined%20North%20Vietnamese%20ports%3B.
History.com Editors, "Vietnam War," History, originally published 29 October 2009, last updated 28 May 2025, accessed 30 May 2025, https://www.history.com/articles/vietnam-war-history.
"The Vietnam War: Changing Views of the War in the USA," [Part of] History: The Cold War, BBC website, accessed 17 June 2025, https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zv7bkqt/revision/5#:~:text=Many%20believed%20that%20war%20was,criticised%20the%20Vietnam%20War%20itself.
Article prepared by Ayla Dickson and Alexis Bowen, George Washington High School JROTC
May 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.
