1. James Raymond Kelly III
Corporal
I CO, 3RD BN, 3RD MARINES, 3RD MARDIV
United States Marine Corps
12 March 1945 - 24 March 1967
Sacramento, California
Panel 17E, Line 036

2. Dear Jim,
You were a wonderful husband, father and friend.
Mae Kelly
wife James, you saved a bunch of us.
Rod Consalvo
with him when he died
This was my dad.
I have often wondered
how our lives might have all been different had
my Dad returned. One never knows.
I would have liked the opportunity to have
known him.
The quot;warquot; has left us all scarred.
From his son,
James R Kelly IV

3. For extraordinary heroism while serving as a
grenadier . . .

4. Even without Kelly at home, America moved along.
On March 7th, Jimmy Hoffa began his 8 year sentence for attempting
to bribe a jury….
On March 14th, the body of John F. Kennedy is moved to it’s permanent
resting place at Arlington National Cemetery…
Kelly would never know. He was preoccupied by the bullets
flying at his head in Vietnam, far from political and
social affairs.

5. During a search and destroy mission, Corporal
Kelly's platoon was engaged in a heavily
contested conflict against enemy forces.

6. The Khe Sanh base commander still refused to believe there to be a significant
enemy force in the hills. A NVA soldier surrendered on April 25, and told the
Marines he was from the 4th Battalion, 32 Regiment. If true, this meant there
was a threatening force in the area.

7. As his platoon entered the village of An
Hoa, it became subjected to intense enemy
mortar and automatic weapons fire, which
inflicted numerous casualties upon the
Marines.

8. With complete disregard for his own safety
and with full knowledge of the hazards
involved, Corporal Kelly assaulted an enemy
bunker single-handedly . . .
and destroyed it.

9. The enemy then attempted to flank the
Marine platoon with six men armed with
automatic weapons. Utilizing a well
camouflaged trench line, the enemy was close
to accomplishing their objective when
Corporal Kelly suddenly observed their
movement.

10. He rushed forward in the face of certain
death, killed three of the enemy, and caused
the remainder to flee. Mortally wounded
during this action, Corporal Kelly by his bold
initiative and selfless concern for others
undoubtedly saved the lives of many of his
comrades.

12. Corporal Kelly would never be returning to
his wife and two children at home.

13. “They felt the rush of takeoff. Gone! they yelled. And then
velocity- wings and engines- a smiling stewardess- but it was
more than a plane, it was a real bird, a big sleek silver bird
with feathers and talons and high screeching. ”
Tim O’Brien,
The Things They Carried
“I'll hold on to the wings of the eagles.
Watch as we all fly away.”
Chad Kroeger,
Hero

14. I do not fear an army of lions,
if they are led by a lamb.
I do fear an army of sheep,
if they are led by a lion.
-- Alexander the Great –
James Raymond Kelly
was a lion.
Jon Rice

15. Work Cited
Consalvo, Rod. quot;Search.quot; Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund. 25
February, 2006. Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund. 27 May
2009 <http://www.vvmf.org//index.cfm?SectionID=110&anClip=181397>.
Kelly, Mae. quot;Search.quot; Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund. 16 February,
2001. Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund. 27 May 2009
<http://www.vvmf.org//index.cfm?SectionID=110&anClip=29086>.
Avery, Dave. quot;Search.quot; Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund. 24 March, 2003.
Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund. 27 May 2009
<http://www.vvmf.org//index.cfm?SectionID=110&anClip=74112>.
Schuekler, Jim. quot;James Kelly.quot; Virtual Wall. 10 June, 2008.
virtualwall.org. 27 May 2009 <http://www.virtualwall.org/dk/Kelly
JR01a.htm>.