Donald Baron Saunders

Another Belleville Son

Dies in Vietnam Battle

(March 14, 1968) -- "Since he had to leave this world, I'm glad he left it the way he did, with courage and fighting for his country."

There was little else for William D. Saunders of High Street, Belleville, to say. He is the father of Pfc. Donald Saunders who was killed in action in Vietnam recently.

The young Saunders, only 20, died of wounds on his head and body from an enemy mortar fire in Quang Tri last week.

Saunders enlisted in the Marines two years ago on Sept. 28. It was a day that William Saunders will never forget as it was the elder Saunders' birthday.

Donald completed his basic training at Parris Island, S.C., and advanced infantry training at Camp Lejeune, N.C. He volunteered for duty in Vietnam.

When asked why, Mrs. Maisie Saunders, his mother, said, "Donald was never too talkative. He made his own decisions. I think he felt the boys were doing a good job and he should back them up."

"It was just a job that had to be done, for him," added Saunders, and he never complained. In all his letters there was never a word of complaint. He tried to reassure us, in fact."

Mrs. Saunders states that Donald did mention in one letter that he did not know whether it was the last letter or not an that they were surrounded by the enemy.

According to his mother, the difficulties of the people of Vietnam particularly affected him. He wrote home about the villagers who had to scramble for food and were so starved that they were eating garbage.

Donald did manage to telephone home just two weeks ago at 3 a.m. to talk to his parents.

This is how Mrs. Saunders remembers the call: "We were surprised and so happy to hear his voice. The first thing he said was 'don't talk about anything military, Mom.' There was so much confusion because of the relay through Hawaii that we could not say very much. I said something an then had to wait for it to be relayed. He did say though 'What's happening, Mom' which was his favorite expression. It was so good to hear that. I only wish we could have talked much longer, it was over so quickly, so very quickly."

A member of the First Battalion of the 13th Marines, Pfc. Saunders attended Belleville High School. He was a member of the cross-country team that one the Big Ten Conference Championship in 1965.

He was also a member of Little Zion U AME Church in Belleville.

Of the military conditions in Vietnam, Saunders never said a great deal, according to his family.

"Of course," Mrs. Saunders said, "he sometimes wrote that he gave candy and food to the Vietnamese children. The only thing he really asked for was undershirts. It seems that you could not purchase them over there because of the climate."

"When he enlisted," the senior Saunders adds, "we hoped for the best, we did not want anything to happen. But we knew he was was on a machine gun and the first thought of any enemy is to knock out machine gun out.

"At least he wasn't like those doves or slobs, who try to find any excuse to get out of going. That's the one thing I remember, he never, even after he was in combat, said he was sorry or complained."

Pfc. Saunders leaves besides his parents, a brother Kenneth, who is 16 years-old and a sister, Miss Kathleen, both at home.

The body is expected to arrive later this week and the funeral will be from the William V. Irvine and Son Memorial Home.

SAUNDERS, DONALD BARON

BELLEVILLE, NJ

Date of Birth: Tuesday, February 17, 1948
Sex: Male
Race: Negro
Marital Status: Single

Branch: Marine Corps
Rank: PFC
Serial Number: 2253764
Component: Regular<
Pay grade: E2
MOS (Military Occupational Specialty code): 3371

Start of Tour: Wednesday, July 26, 1967
Date of Casualty: Monday, March 4, 1968
Age at time of loss: 20
Casualty type: (A1) Hostile, died
Reason: Artillery, rocket, mortar (Ground casualty)
Country: South VietNam
Province: Quang Tri