BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY Dan Bullock

Dan Bullock

Born	December 21, 1953^[1] Goldsboro, North Carolina^[2]
Died	June 7, 1969 (aged 15) An Hoa Combat Base, Quang Nam Province, Vietnam^[2]
Cause of death	killed in action
Resting place	Elmwood Cemetery, Goldsboro, Wayne County, North Carolina, USA^[1]
Monuments	On June 7, 2003 a section of Lee Avenue in Brooklyn, where Bullock lived since age 11, was renamed in his honor.^[3]
Ethnicity	African American^[1]
Citizenship	United States
Known for	Youngest American KIA in the Vietnam War.^[1]

Private First Class Dan Bullock (December 21, 1953 - June 7, 1969) was the youngest American serviceman killed in action during the Vietnam War.

Biography

Dan Bullock was born in Goldsboro, North Carolina. He lived in North Carolina until he was about 12, when his mother died and he and his younger sister, Gloria, moved to Brooklyn to live with their father and his wife.^[4] There he dreamed of becoming a pilot, police officer, or U.S. Marine. When he was 14 years old he altered the date on his birth certificate to show he was born December 21, 1949, processed through the recruiting station, and enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps on September 18, 1968. As a member of Platoon 3039 in Parris Island, he graduated from boot camp on December 10, 1968.^[5]

Bullock arrived in Vietnam on May 18, 1969 and was assigned as a rifleman in 2nd Squad, 2nd Platoon, Fox Company, 2nd Battalion 5th Marines, 1st Marine Division. He was stationed at An Hoa Combat Base west of Hội An in Quang Nam Province. He was killed instantly by small arms fire on June 7, 1969, during a North Vietnamese Army night attack while making an ammunition run to resupply his beleaguered unit. He was 15 years old.^[3]

Honors

On June 7, 2003 a section of Lee Avenue in Brooklyn, where Bullock lived since age 11, was renamed in his honor.^[3]

Birth:	Dec. 21, 1953 Goldsboro Wayne County North Carolina, USA
Death:	Jun. 7, 1969 Tam Kỳ, Vietnam
He enlisted in the Marine Corps at age 14. At age 15, he became the youngest American serviceman to be killed in action in Vietnam. When his body was returned, there was no memorial ceremony and no headstone provided for him. A New York veteran's organization recently helped to arrange for these. Bullock was born in Goldsboro, NC and was a quiet child as he grew up. His mother died when he was 11 and his father remarried and moved Dan and his younger sister to Brooklyn, NY. Not liking New York City and looking for a way to improve himself, Bullock changed the date on his birth certificate and joined the Marine Corps on September 18, 1968. He arrived in Vietnam on May 8, 1969 and was killed a month later. One of his colleagues in the Marine Corps, Franklin McArthur, Jr., upon recently learning of Bullock's fate, started the PFC Dan Bullock Foundation to raise funds for a monument to be erected outside the Brooklyn Marine Corps recruiting station where Bullock enlisted. Steve Piscitelli, an Orlando, FL sculptor who had known Bullock in Vietnam, learned of the story and has voluntarily helped design a statue. While playfully sparring with Bullock, Piscitelli had broken his thumb. Bullock, who had originally been assigned to cleaning duties that day, went to a front-line post in Piscitelli's place and was killed. Another former Marine heard the Bullock story and talked to his boss, talk-show host Sally Jessy Raphael, who donated a headstone for Bullock's grave. For Bullock's memorial ceremony, a caravan left Brooklyn led by members of the New York Rolling Thunder motorcycle club. At the Virginia-North Carolina border, the caravan was joined by members of the North Carolina Rolling Thunder motorcycle club and escorted to Goldsboro. The North Carolina National Guard provided chairs and nearby Seymour Johnson Air Force Base provided an Honor Guard for a most memorable ceremony.