Tyler County Bridge Dedicated to Vietnam Veteran
Vietnam veterans, family and the community honored the memory of a Tyler County soldier by naming a bridge after him.
Members of 101st Airborne Division Bravo Company shared their experiences about U.S. Army Cpl. Gary Wayne Weekley during a solemn ceremony Saturday at Tyler Consolidated High School.
Weekley, 20, was in Vietnam only six weeks when he was struck by explosive ordinance on April 4, 1970 in Binh Hinh Province.
“There’s nothing worse than losing a child prematurely. When you saw what the Weekleys went through, the parents are never the same,” said Capt. Jim Waybright, who was then commanding officer of Bravo Company.
The bridge crossing Point Pleasant Creek was dedicated to the man known by his comrades-in-arms as “Little West Virginia.”
“He was one of the finest soldiers I had the privilege to serve with,” said Lt. John Greene, who was Weekley’s platoon leader. “He wanted to make a career of the army. He seemed to like it, enjoy it.”
Sgt. 1st Class Ben Currin, who served guard duty with Weekley the night before he was killed, recalled a wild boar that had charged into the perimeter.
“We told Capt. Waybright that we had killed a boar and Gary had suggested that we skin it and cook the meat so as to chow down with some good old pork the next morning,” Currin said.
There were no pork filets when Currin and Weekley had breakfast for the last time. Weekley’s squad was selected for patrol duty.
“We always said something when you departed. My last words to Gary were ‘I’ll see you in a few minutes. Be safe,'” he said.
The crowd in the school auditorium was silent as Currin added in tear-strained voice, “I’ve learned through life that it’s not our call. When our time comes, it comes. The good Lord makes that decision, not us. If we made it, we’d all live forever.”
When Currin returned home years later, he was the first person from Bravo Company to contact Weekley’s parents to talk about the man that had been his friend, their son.
“We had a heck of a conversation. The first question out of their mouth was did Gary suffer? That was their concern. I assured them that he didn’t,” he said.
Waybright described Currin as “the spirit” of Bravo Company.
“I’m proud to have known Gary Weekley,” Currin said. “He’ll be in our minds until the day we leave. God bless the Weekley family.”
A native West Virginian, Weekley was born Oct. 6 1949 in New Martinsville, the son of Millard and Pauline Weekley. He was a graduate of Tyler County High School and joined the United States Army and began his tour of duty in Vietnam in the 1st Platoon, Company B, 3rd Battalion, 506th Infantry, 101st Airborne Division on January 30, 1970.
Platoon medic James Cox took his death pretty hard, Waybright said.
“I was supposed to be the one to keep them alive, to get them home. That was my job. … , ” Cox said. “Gary was gone. I tried and tried and tried to revive him. I couldn’t.”
A Gold Star flag was presented to the Weekley family by Cathy Post, American Legion Auxiliary Fourth District president. Post knew Weekley when they attended Tyler County High School.
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