James Michael Esposito

JAMES MICHAEL ESPOSITO. His home of record is Pennsauken, NJ. He began his tour of duty in Vietnam on March 12, 1968, serving with the US Marine Corps.

James' platoon leader, Russ Finsness, remembers him talking about his family a lot. Two other men, who he served with, Dennis Reynolds and Gene McCandless, both remember him as being a man who was fun and full of life. Gene McCandless recalls:

I quickly slithered up the bank and into a more safe location behind Corporal Esposito. I could see him firing rapidly in wide arcs to the hidden enemy on the other shore. In fact, I judged his fire to be too high at some points but he was making the best effort to lay suppressing fire and I dared not challenge him on it. He quickly would reload lengths of machine gun belts into his butterfly-triggered M-60 and continue to fire. He was a steady and effective Marine under fire. Major Molineaux was able to call in artillery fire, which blanketed the opposite shore, about 100 yards away, and their fire faded away. We rescued the sunken Amtrac and had a very exciting night road trip back to a secure compound. I felt so secure with warriors like Major Molineaux, the maintenance warrant officer, and Corporal Esposito.

Dennis Reynolds, who fought with James, remembers him as a �very happy, outgoing person, always with a smile and a laugh, and perhaps a bit of mischief in his eye.�

James Esposito was killed on October 25, 1968. He was killed along with two other men, SGT John Mary Avery and Billy Edward Scott, when the Amtrac they were in hit a landmine in Quang Nam province, South Vietnam. James was conscious after the mine blew up, but he received severe burns to his body. He was flown to the naval hospital where he died later that day.

JAMES MICHAEL ESPOSITO
is honored on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial
on Panel 40W, Line 32.