First Name: John
Last Name: MacDougal
Middle Initial:
Date of Birth: N/A
Sex: Male
Martial Status: Never Married
Number of Children: 0
Home Town: Huntington, CT
Education Completed: High School
Other Occupations:
Branch of Service: Army
Highest Rank: N/A
Serial Number: N/A
Platoon: Green Beret
Age at Start of Service: Not Sure
Years of Service: Not Sure
Combat Veteran: Yes
Time in Combat: Not Sure
Place of Combat: N/A
Awards:
Date of Suicide: 06/1972
Suicide Method: hanging
Veteran’s Story: I had not seen John since 8th grade. John attended Shelton High School. I attended Notre Dame High School, Bridgeport, CT. We both graduated in 1964. One summer afternoon in 1972, I was in my apartment in Huntington, CT and heard a knock at the door. I ran down my stairs and opened the door to a Green Beret. There John stood in full uniform.I don’t remember all that we discussed, but the topic we discussed was….did the upper echelon of the Army, the upper echelon of the U.S. government give the order(s) to kill innocent people in Vietnam, for example, in Mai Lei. Primarily, I listened as John told me his story of the war. We spoke about this for 2 hours. After listening and asking John questions, he asked me if I thought the upper echelons had “given the word, nod, ok” to do these atrocities. I told him I thought they had. After a few more minutes John got up and left. I sat there for a long time wondering why he had come after all of these years of not seeing him and asked me such important questions. The next morning I heard the news on our local radio station. John had hung himself in his barn in Huntington, CT about 7PM about two hours after he left me. I have only told a few friends of this. Thirty two years later and I am grieving for the loss of John, a very precious human being, one filled with goodness, strong character and all of the fine qualities the U.S.used to represent. How could we have failed such a fine young man.I’d appreciate hearing from anyone concerning John.It has only been in the last 5 months that I have begun to come to terms with my sorrow over his death. I am grieving for John’s loss as I write this. This weekend I am going to the “portable” Vietnam Wall that is at Lyman Estates in Waltham, MA.
Submitted By: Chris Reynolds
Relationship to Veteran: Friend
