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Richard J. Beresford
Remembering schoolmates who perished in Vietnam.
U.S. Navy PC2 Richard J. Beresford, 62, was a mailman during most of the 20 years he served in the military. When he came home to Newtown, he became a rural postal carrier for the U.S. Post Office.
But in between those times, his military career would take him to Illinois for basic training and to Vietnam.
Beresford prides himself on being involved in the community. He served as post commander for the Morrell Smith Post 440 of the American Legion in Newtown.
Today, he serves on the board of the Guardians of the National Cemetery. He is currently the service officer with Post 79 of the American Legion in New Hope.
For 22 years, Beresford led the Veterans Day Service at Council Rock High School North because he knew the young men from Council Rock who died in Vietnam. One is missing in action (MIA). He believes strongly in honoring them.
Their pictures are proudly displayed on Memorial Wall in the high school.
From the U. S. Army were Capt. William D. Booth, Lt. Daniel A. Hennessy, Sgt. Nelson C. Luther, C.W.O. Robert O. Hill Jr., W/O Robert L. Scott Jr., Spec.4 Harry C. Wilson, FCC David Lownes, Spec.3 Frank M. Mebs and W/O William H. McDonnell.
Two served in the U.S. Marines: Lt. William S. Geary and Lance Cpl. Marvin O. Wittman. One was with the U.S. Navy: Airman Douglas A. Post. Missing in Action is Capt. Walter H. Sigafoos of the U.S. Air Force.
Beresford graduated from Council Rock in 1966. He graduated from boot camp in Great Lakes, Ill. in June of 1967. Beresford would eventually be honorably discharged in 1985 as a 2nd class petty officer (PC2.)
His first assignment lasted for four years on the USS Sacramento. The type of ship was a fast combat support. Nicknamed “a one-stop shopping center,” it was three ships in one — ammunition, oiler and supply ship.
In 1971, he transferred to Yokohama, Japan outside of Tokyo Bay where the fleet mail center was based. The center provided all the mail on the ships in the western Pacific.
In 1974, he was transferred to the sister ship, the USS Camden (AOE2). He was transferred to the naval weapons station in Coltsneck, N.J. where he ran the post office.
From there, Beresford was transferred to Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean. The island was owned by the British.
“It was called isolated duty, which is a special assignment,” he said.
While in Diego Garcia, he worked in the post office. The island was used as a staging area for what was to come in the Iraqi War.
Beresford was then transferred to the naval station at San Diego to the USS Jouett (CG29), which was a guided missile cruiser.
He was discharged honorably in 1985 at age 38.
Beresford talked about the Vietnam War. He was involved in shore support for the battle groups. “We provided all the bombs that were needed to go into Vietnam,” he said. “The main objective of the USS Sacramento and the USS Camden was to supply the aircraft battle groups that were off of Vietnam.
“We provided everything from a paper clip to a 5,000-pound bomb,” Beresford said. “We were a floating time bomb. If anyone was to come after us, we knew there was someone nearby to protect us.”
He was on the Sacramento from 1967 to 1971.
“The Tet Offensive in 1968 was the major attack that went on in Vietnam,” he said. “We were one of the support ships for that. We would also patrol the demilitarized zone [DMZ] and would provide the ammo for the ships that where in the area.
“They would come by us, rearm and re-fire on a specific location,” he said. “We would be out there cruising the area.”
Beresford said the rapid gunfire was so bad that it burnt the paint right off of the gun barrel. Then, they would get the empty brass from the shell that the powder was in and bring it back to the Philippines. “As much brass as possible was sent back to the U.S. to be redone and to be reused again,” he said.
In 1968, there was another big operation. The Sacramento had just come out of the Philippines for a port visit. They rearmed themselves.
“We were fully loaded,” Beresford said. “The USS Pueblo was being captured by North Korea. We were sent to head to North Korea as fast as possible in the middle of the night to be prepared to rescue the Pueblo from the North Koreans.
“We had four aircraft carrier battle groups consisting of four carriers, 22 destroyers and three guided missile cruisers around us,” he noted.
The Pueblo was captured by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Jan. 23, 1968, and is still in the hands of the DPRK. The capture occurred less than a week after President Lyndon B. Johnson’s State of the Union Address and only weeks before the Tet Offensive, it was a major incident in the Cold War.
By Petra Chesner Schlatter, BucksLocalNews.com
U.S. Navy PC2 Richard J. Beresford, 62, was a mailman during most of the 20 years he served in the military. When he came home to Newtown, he became a rural postal carrier for the U.S. Post Office.
But in between those times, his military career would take him to Illinois for basic training and to Vietnam.
Beresford prides himself on being involved in the community. He served as post commander for the Morrell Smith Post 440 of the American Legion in Newtown.
Today, he serves on the board of the Guardians of the National Cemetery. He is currently the service officer with Post 79 of the American Legion in New Hope.
For 22 years, Beresford led the Veterans Day Service at Council Rock High School North because he knew the young men from Council Rock who died in Vietnam. One is missing in action (MIA). He believes strongly in honoring them.
Their pictures are proudly displayed on Memorial Wall in the high school.
From the U. S. Army were Capt. William D. Booth, Lt. Daniel A. Hennessy, Sgt. Nelson C. Luther, C.W.O. Robert O. Hill Jr., W/O Robert L. Scott Jr., Spec.4 Harry C. Wilson, FCC David Lownes, Spec.3 Frank M. Mebs and W/O William H. McDonnell.
Two served in the U.S. Marines: Lt. William S. Geary and Lance Cpl. Marvin O. Wittman. One was with the U.S. Navy: Airman Douglas A. Post. Missing in Action is Capt. Walter H. Sigafoos of the U.S. Air Force.
Beresford graduated from Council Rock in 1966. He graduated from boot camp in Great Lakes, Ill. in June of 1967. Beresford would eventually be honorably discharged in 1985 as a 2nd class petty officer (PC2.)
His first assignment lasted for four years on the USS Sacramento. The type of ship was a fast combat support. Nicknamed “a one-stop shopping center,” it was three ships in one — ammunition, oiler and supply ship.
In 1971, he transferred to Yokohama, Japan outside of Tokyo Bay where the fleet mail center was based. The center provided all the mail on the ships in the western Pacific.
In 1974, he was transferred to the sister ship, the USS Camden (AOE2). He was transferred to the naval weapons station in Coltsneck, N.J. where he ran the post office.
From there, Beresford was transferred to Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean. The island was owned by the British.
“It was called isolated duty, which is a special assignment,” he said.
While in Diego Garcia, he worked in the post office. The island was used as a staging area for what was to come in the Iraqi War.
Beresford was then transferred to the naval station at San Diego to the USS Jouett (CG29), which was a guided missile cruiser.
He was discharged honorably in 1985 at age 38.
Beresford talked about the Vietnam War. He was involved in shore support for the battle groups. “We provided all the bombs that were needed to go into Vietnam,” he said. “The main objective of the USS Sacramento and the USS Camden was to supply the aircraft battle groups that were off of Vietnam.
“We provided everything from a paper clip to a 5,000-pound bomb,” Beresford said. “We were a floating time bomb. If anyone was to come after us, we knew there was someone nearby to protect us.”
He was on the Sacramento from 1967 to 1971.
“The Tet Offensive in 1968 was the major attack that went on in Vietnam,” he said. “We were one of the support ships for that. We would also patrol the demilitarized zone [DMZ] and would provide the ammo for the ships that where in the area.
“They would come by us, rearm and re-fire on a specific location,” he said. “We would be out there cruising the area.”
Beresford said the rapid gunfire was so bad that it burnt the paint right off of the gun barrel. Then, they would get the empty brass from the shell that the powder was in and bring it back to the Philippines. “As much brass as possible was sent back to the U.S. to be redone and to be reused again,” he said.
In 1968, there was another big operation. The Sacramento had just come out of the Philippines for a port visit. They rearmed themselves.
“We were fully loaded,” Beresford said. “The USS Pueblo was being captured by North Korea. We were sent to head to North Korea as fast as possible in the middle of the night to be prepared to rescue the Pueblo from the North Koreans.
“We had four aircraft carrier battle groups consisting of four carriers, 22 destroyers and three guided missile cruisers around us,” he noted.
The Pueblo was captured by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Jan. 23, 1968, and is still in the hands of the DPRK. The capture occurred less than a week after President Lyndon B. Johnson’s State of the Union Address and only weeks before the Tet Offensive, it was a major incident in the Cold War.
posted by BucksLocalNews at
1:39 PM
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