Staehli, Bruce Wayne
Marines Sergeant

Bruce Wayne Staehli from Crown Point Lake, Indiana.

Service era: Vietnam

Date of death: April 30, 1968
Death details: 

On April 30, 1968, Company L of the 3rd Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division was on a search and destroy mission east of Cam Lo in the vicinity of YD 170 620. At 1630 hours, the company came into contact with an enemy force of unknown size firing automatic weapons, small arms, and mortars. One Marine, who was walking point for his squad, shouted back he had been wounded in the leg. The heavy contact continued and as darkness approached the company moved back 150 meters to a tree line to set up a defensive perimeter, leaving 18 Marines behind. At first light the following morning, and continuing through late morning, there was an extensive search and 17 of the 18 Marines were recovered (all but the Marine who had been walking point). Searchers found a pack belonging to the missing Marine and boots minus the laces, which were thought to be his. A member of the missing Marine’s unit said that at about 1700 hours on April 30, 1968, he saw this missing Marine running towards him without a weapon or equipment and apparently not wounded. When the missing Marine saw him, he screamed and turned and ran the other way. May 13, 1968, a Marine element found the missing Marine’s identification tags by a stream at YD 170 648, over 2 kilometers north from the battle location.

Private First Class Bruce Wayne Staehli, who entered the U.S. Marine Corps from Indiana, was a member of Company L, 3rd Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division. He was walking point for his squad on April 30, 1968, when his team encountered the enemy. He shouted back he had been wounded in the leg, but was not able to rejoin his unit at the time. He still had not rejoined his unit when they moved to set up their perimeter on the treeline. At first light the following morning, his unit launched a search effort but were unable to locate him. Further attempts to locate PFC Staehli were unsuccessful, and he remains unaccounted for. After the incident, the Marine Corps promoted PFC Staehli to the rank of the Staff Sergeant (SSgt). Today, Staff Sergeant Staehli is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency