The other day I ended up in Goldsboro. So, I decided to pay my respects to PFC. Dan Bullock, the youngest American casualty of the Vietnam War. Dan was born to James and Alma Bullock in Goldsboro North Carolina on December 21^st, 1953.[1]

As a child Dan and his young nephew Nathan Bullock would play soldier and have other “childhood escapades”. [2] Dan’s Father would also fuel his desire for adventure by telling him stories of the Tuskegee Airmen and Buffalo Soldiers.[3] Sadly PFC Bullocks mother would die when he was just 11. This prompted his father to move the family to Brooklyn in order to find work.[4]  Even with the move, the Bullock family was still struggling finically. This, along with Dan’s sense adventure, are possible motivations for him to join the United States Marine Corp. He enlisted on December 10, 1968 at the age of 14.[5] Dan changed his birth certificate to read December 21, 1949, instead of December 21, 1953 in order to join the Marines.[6] That combined with the fact that Dan was five feet nine inches tall, and 160 pounds fooled the recruiters.[7] His father was against Dan’s enlistment at first but due to PFC. Bullocks enthusiasm elder Bullock relented.[8] Dan was sent to Paris Island South Carolina, where according to Franklin McArthur his “Boot Camp Buddy” Dan almost washed out.[9] PCF Bullock would complete his basic training and be assigned as a rifleman to Fox Company, Second Battalion, Fifth Marine Regiment. He was sent to Vietnam on May 8, 1969 and was stationed at An Hoa Combat Base in Quang Nam Province.[10] According to his nephew Nathan Dan would right home and he once reported “I had a buddy who got shot, but I don’t have no holes in me yet.”[11] Even in his last letter home Dan added a post script “I don’t have no holes in me yet. “tragically his good fortune would change. On June 7^th, 1969 PCF Bullock was at first assigned cleanup duties that night at the base, he was reassigned to take over a wounded Marine’s assignment, guarding a Delta Airship. At 1am a group of North Vietnamese Army attacked the base, PFC Bullock “constantly exposed himself to the enemy fire in order to keep the company supplied with the ammunition needed to hold off the attack, As the attack pressed on, Dan again went to get more ammunition when he was mortally wounded by a burst of enemy small arms and died instantly.” wrote Capt. R.H. Kingrey his commanding officer.[12] PFC Bullock was just 15 years old. His body was returned to Goldsboro, where he was laid to rest wearing his dress blues.

There was little fanfare as the casket was lowered into an unmarked grave at Elmwood Cemetery. Dan would be survived by his sister Gloria and his father. Thirty-one years later, talk show host Sally Jessy Raphael heard PFC Bullock’s story and was touched. She donated a headstone, and a memorial service for Bullock in Goldsboro to dedicate the stone was held.[13]  The New York Rolling Thunder and the North Carolina Rolling Thunder motorcycle clubs took part in a procession through the town in his honor. In 2003, a portion of Lee Avenue in Brooklyn where he had lived as a child, was renamed after him. In 2017, a highway marker was installed in Goldsboro in his honor, commemorating his service to the United States.[14]

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[1] “Dan Bullock Facts.” Public Member Trees. Accessed December 17, 2019. https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/67067937/person/230073682337/facts.

[2] SAUNDERS, BARRY. “Saunders: Remembering a Marine Who Died Way Too Young.” The News & Observer, November 10, 2014. https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/barry-saunders/article10124927.html.

[3] Ibid

[4] Momodu, Samuel. “Dan Bullock (1953-1969).” BlackPast, December 10, 2019. https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/dan-bullock-1953-1969/.

[5] Ibid

[6] Ibid

[7] Gallagher, Brian Thomas. “He Enlisted at 14, Went to Vietnam at 15 and Died a Month Later.” The New York Times. The New York Times, June 7, 2019. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/07/nyregion/youngest-american-soldier-killed-vietnam.html.

[8] Ibid

[9] McShane, Larry. “Dan Bullock Doctored His Birth Certificate at Age 14 in Order to Join the Marines. A Year Later, He Was Killed by Enemy Fire in Vietnam.” nydailynews.com. New York Daily News, January 9, 2019. https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/brooklyn-marine-15-killed-vietnam-article-1.2003597.

[10] Momodu, Samuel. “Dan Bullock (1953-1969).” BlackPast, December 10, 2019. https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/dan-bullock-1953-1969/.

[11] SAUNDERS, BARRY. “Saunders: Remembering a Marine Who Died Way Too Young.” The News & Observer, November 10, 2014. https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/barry-saunders/article10124927.html.

[12] McShane, Larry. “Dan Bullock Doctored His Birth Certificate at Age 14 in Order to Join the Marines. A Year Later, He Was Killed by Enemy Fire in Vietnam.” nydailynews.com. New York Daily News, January 9, 2019. https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/brooklyn-marine-15-killed-vietnam-article-1.2003597.

[13] Momodu, Samuel. “Dan Bullock (1953-1969).” BlackPast, December 10, 2019. https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/dan-bullock-1953-1969/.

[14] Ibid