If anyone reads this … this was shared and posted by the woman above … mustering to help

Good evening, everyone. Thank for allowing me to join. I’m looking for anyone who might have known Burt Chauncy Small, Jr along with some others. So, in total, I’m looking for friends or acquaintances of:

-SPC4 (later SGT) Burt C. Small, Jr.
-SSG Jacob (Jake) G. Roth, Jr.
-SSG Michael F. Stearns
-MSG Thomas J. Sanchez

• anyone at camp A-108 during the years of 66-67

Some details:

Burt graduated Savannah High School class of 1965 then enlisted in Jan 1966 and did basics at Ft Gordon, then Airborne and all at Benning. He was then sent overseas. He arrived as a SP4 but was promoted to SGT (though files online say differently sometimes) and received his beret. On March 6, 1967, he was ambushed while helping to lead a 20-man CIDG patrol with the older SGT and Korean War vet and career soldier, Jacob Roth. After Burt was injured in the leg and fell, the two were separated. Burt was seen by a CIDG soldier during this time who witnessed him being led off as a prisoner by the NVA.

Two American soldiers volunteered to lead a rescue mission from the nearby camp A-108 where they were stationed but they were sadly killed during the firefight. I can tell the details later if you’d like to hear and you’re unaware of their service, but they were heavily outnumbered but each chose to go to the assistance of wounded CIDG brothers anyways during this time despite knowing it would mean the end for them due to the heavy gunfire. They both received posthumous awards with one of them being awarded the Bronze Star. These were special men: Michael Stearns and Thomas Sanchez.

Jacob was rescued by an American helicopter during this time (which has been detailed in a blog by one of the crew if you’re interested) but when a patrol was sent to find Burt, there was no sign of him. He was listed as a POW until the mid 1970s when he was declared presumed dead.

I would really like to hear from ANYONE who knew any of these men: Burt, Jacob (he passed in 2022 and sadly I didn’t find him before then), Michael or Thomas.

One of my best friends and mentors was a friend and brother of Burt. I was also friends with Burt’s father but he passed away years ago and both he and his wife always waited for news until their last days.

I still have many unanswered questions. And I feel like I owe it to Burt and to Burt Sr and to my friend to find these answers. Therefore, I am starting to put up some social media ads and digital advertising boards in Vietnam with rewards for any hints or tips that can lead to the recovery of Burt’s uniform pieces, dog tags, location, or information as to what happened to him after March 6, 1967.

HOWEVER, anyone that knew him and could provide me with more pictures of him, Jacob, details of that day or just what you heard about that day etc would be so helpful. I do not want to contact Burt’s remaining siblings and get their hopes up at this time which is why I thought I’d reach out to the veteran and 5th SF community.

I realize it’s a long shot to find people that knew these men, and an even longer shot to find any info or clues about Burt or this battle, but I just feel like I have to do what I need to do .

Thank you for reading if you got this far.

Here are photos of the guys in question (LtoR, Burt, Jacob, Michael and Thomas: I also used AI— which is obviously not perfect— to try to make modern, HD photos of them in case they would help spark memories for people. Those are in the comments)