Writes Lyal Miller: From: Lyal Miller To: Jeff Hamman Subject: Rudolfo Hernandez Date: Tue, 2 Mar 1999 23:56:17 Dear Jeffrey, I thought that I would write in reference to "Rudy" Hernandez. I noticed that you did not have his home town or rank listed on your website. I happen to have gone to high school with him in El Paso, Texas, his home town. I guess the most that I remember about him was in the ROTC class that we were in. He was a couple of years older than me and so he outranked me. Rudy joined the Marine Corps in 1974 and served as a door gunner in operation Frequent Wind - the evacuation from Vietnam. I also enlisted into the Marine Corps, in 1976, but as a grunt. Rudy finished his first tour and got out while I was on Okinawa. About a year after I left the Corps I ran into Rudy in El Paso. He wasn't comfortable with civilian life and was going back into the Marines. That was the last I heard from him. While he was in Lebanon he was struck in the head by shrapnel from a mortar round or a rocket. The way I remember it this was less than a week before the "Lebanon Event". He was in a coma for a while and died without regaining consciousness. I visited his gravestone the last time I was in El Paso a few years ago. His is in the vicinity of another friend of mine so I usually look them up when I'm there. I don't quite remember the rank on his stone so I can't help you much with that. If I can be of any other assistance just let me know. Best Regards, Lyal Miller