Seymour paused Saturday morning to honor the memory of Spec. 4 John Thomas DeBarber, the first of two servicemen from the town who were killed in action in the Vietnam War.
In a solemn ceremony at St. Augustine’s Cemetery, with military honors provided by American Legion Post 10, state and town officials and local veterans dedicated a monument to DeBarber, who was killed in a Viet Cong ambush on Oct. 17, 1966, 47 years ago this week.
He and Marine Lance Cpl. Ronald M. Randall, the other serviceman from Seymour who was killed in combat in Vietnam, also have school athletic fields named in their honor.
On hand for the ceremony were Dennis Neal of Sherman, Texas, and George Leash, of Mulvane, Kansas, who served with DeBarber in Charlie Company, 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division.
Both survived the ambush when their friend was killed.
They provided details of that fateful night in an interview at a reception at the Seymour Community Center following the dedication ceremony.
Leach, the platoon radioman, was with his lieutenant preparing for a night patrol when word arrived to expect heavy contact with the enemy, which resulted in the patrol to be upgraded from a squad to a full platoon operation.
He said Charlie Company was operating in the Mekong Delta in Long An Province, an area full of swamps and rice paddies. The patrol bogged down in the swamps and paddies, so the inexperienced lieutenant ordered the troops to move along a gravel road instead.
Leach said he warned the lieutenant that it was dangerous to move along roads such as that one, because the Viet Cong set up ambushes, booby traps and mines along them, but the lieutenant replied they had to risk it in order to make up for time lost slogging through the swamp.
Only about 50 yards further the enemy launched the ambush, attacking the platoon vanguard with claymore mines and then pinning down the rest of the platoon with heavy rifle fire. The battle raged all night until reinforcements arrived near daybreak and the enemy withdrew.
“It was just a crazy, unforgiving night,” Leach said.
He said DeBarber, who was known as “Ace,” was second in line at point, following the platoon’s dog handler. Both were killed along with at least three other soldiers by the initial claymore mine attack.
Intelligence later obtained from a Viet Cong prisoner estimated that their platoon was outnumbered 9‑to‑1 during the engagement.
Leach and Neal said DeBarber was like a brother to them. At 21, he was a few years older, and Leash looked up to him.
“We didn’t know him that long, but it was like we knew him all our lives,” he said.
The ceremony started with the reciting of the Pledge of Allegiance, led by First Selectman Kurt Miller, who called DeBarber “a true Seymour hero.”
State Rep. Theresa Conroy (D‑105) presented a citation from the Connecticut General Assembly recognizing DeBarber’s sacrifice.
Members of DeBarber’s family and classmates of his from Seymour High School unveiled the stone monument while members of the Seymour High School Choir sang “Nearer My God To Thee” and “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.”
A number of other Seymour High School students also assisted in the ceremony, which was organized by the cemetery director, Art Paquette.
He said about a year ago he discovered that a bronze marker for DeBarber had been knocked over and decided he should have a headstone honoring his legacy.
“I must have had some inspiration from someone above to do this for this guy,” he said.
Leach said he heard that some young people in Seymour were wondering who it was that the Seymour High School football field was named for.
“If anyone in town wants to know why they named that field after John, have them call me, because I could tell them,” he said.
