Rank: Private First Class
Unit: L Troop, 3rd Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment
MOS: 11B – Infantryman
Awards: Bronze Star Medal with Valor Device, Purple Heart Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal
Badges: Combat Infantryman Badge
Unit awards: Valorous Unit Award, Meritorious Unit Citation, Vietnamese Gallantry Cross with Palm device
Start of tour: 10-May-1967
Note: 3rd platoon, Track L-33
Enlisted by: Regular
Date of birth: 18-Mar-1949
Hometown: Flint, Michigan
Marital status: Never Married
Campaign: Vietnam Conflict
Entered service: 16-Dec-1966
Start of tour: 10-May-1967
Incident date: 21-Jul-1967
Date of casualty: 21-Jul-1967
Age at death: 18
Cause of death: Hostile, died. Grenade. Multiple fragmentation wounds.
Gary Alfred McLennan died as a result of metal fragment wounds received while a passenger in a military convoy.
Fourteen Blackhorse troopers died in this incident:
CPT William Forman Abernethy
PFC James Francis Bean
PFC John Joseph Campa
PFC Roosevelt C. Curley
SP4 Lawrence Michael Dawson
PFC George Arthur Foster
PVT Thomas Francis Ganion
PFC Douglas Wayne Hill
PFC Frank Daniel Leal
PFC Gary Alfred McLennan
PFC Billy Gene Rodgers
SP4 Richard James Schutz
1LT Ponder Ray Sims
PFC James Lemar Whitfield
Location of fatality: Long Khanh, South Vietnam, YT 430 308
Place of interment: Sunset Hills Cemetery, Flint, Michigan, USA
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BRONZE STAR MEDAL
WITH VALOR DEVICE
POSTHUMOUS
PRIVATE FIRST CLASS GARY ALFRED McLENNAN
21 JULY 1967
L TROOP, 3rd SQUADRON
11TH ARMORED CAVALRY REGIMENT
Private First Class McLennan distinguished himself by valorous actions on 21 July 1967 while participating in a search and secure mission near Xa Binh Hoa, Republic of Vietnam. As the lead element was entering its assigned sector of security, it came under heavy antitank and automatic weapons fire from an undetermined number of Viet Cong. Immediately realizing the intensity of the hostile fire and the close range of the Viet Cong attackers, Private McLennan maneuvered his track so that the three vehicle mounted machine guns could bring suppressive fire on the enemy positions. Alertly spotting a Viet Cong position firing from concealment behind the friendly force, Private McLennan turned his track around toward the fiercely firing enemy. Without regard for his own safety, and despite the fact that the enemy was firing several anti-tank weapons, Private McLennan succeeded in overrunning the insurgent position. As he maneuvered his track back to join his comrades, his vehicle received a direct hit from a recoilless rifle. Although mortally wounded, Private McLennan continued to fire at the enemy until overcome by his wounds. Private First Class McLennan’s courage and devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit and the United States Army.
Headquarters, 9th Infantry Division General Orders No. 3853 (4 August 1967)