Tony Lee Griffith was the son of Mr. and Mrs. John Thomas Griffith
Born 20 February 1948
1st Cav Division AMBL
Length of service 1 years
His tour began on May 19, 1968
Casualty was on February 5, 1969
In Binh Long, South Vietnam
Hostile, ground casualty
Gun, Small arms fire
Body was recovered
Vietnam Wall
Panel 33W – Line 63
The Elizabethton Star, 2 July 2017
Tony Griffith was a Butler boy, who graduated from Hampton High School with the class of 1967. Tony enlisted in the U.S. Army, and was a member of the 1st Cavalry Division (heavy armored). A Sergeant, Tony was an infantry team leader. He died from combat injuries in Vietnam Feb. 5, 1969, just days before his 21st birthday. According to reports, Sgt. Tony L. Griffith, of H Co., 75th Infantry (Ranger), on Feb. 5, 1969, led his five-man long-range reconnaissance team through thick fog and dense, short bush between An Loc and the Cambodian border. Hearing wood being chopped not far off a trail they were assigned to surveil, he had his team set an ambush. However, members of the North Vietnamese Army had detected the team. At dawn several enemy soldiers stole through the fog and flung a grenade into the middle of the team, who were spread in line by the trail in sight of each other. The grenade exploded next to the front scout, Cpl. Richard E. Wilkie, showering him with shrapnel. As the enemy opened fire, the two team members on Wilkie’s left panicked and fired in the direction of the grenade’s blast. Caught in an intense crossfire, Wilkie, a Special Forces veteran, was shot five times – once by the enemy, twiceby his team, and twice by bullets that passed through him. Miraculously, he survived. So, too, did the assistant team leader, Lewis D. Davidson, who was hit twice in the leg. Sgt. Griffith’s luck, however, ended that morning when he was hit by multiple gunshots to the left chest area. Griffith’s body was returned to Carter County, and his remains are interred in the Griffith Cemetery.
- Rank: Sergeant
- Date of birth: 20 February 1948
- Date of death: 5 February 1969
- County: Johnson
- Service Branch: Army
- Division/Assignment: 1st Cavalry Division
- Conflict: Vietnam
- Awards: Bronze Star, Air Medal, Purple Heart, Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Vietnam Campaign Ribbon, Combat Infantryman Badge, Parachutist Badge, Sharpshooter Badge with Automatic Rifle, Rifle and Machine Gun Bars
- Burial/Memorial Location: Griffith Cemetery, Carter County, TN
- Location In Memorial: Pillar XXIII, Middle Panel
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