Crockett Countian
Is Viet Cong Victim

Pvt. Sammie Lee Bedwell
Is Killed Near Da Nang

FRIENDSHIP, Tenn., Jan. 30

Marine Pvt. Sammie Lee Bedwell, 20, who had been scheduled to leave Vietnam Feb, 6, has been killed in combat action near Da Nang, his family was informed Sunday.

Private Bedwell had been in the Marine Corps since June, 1964, and had been in Vietnam 11 months. He was the first casualty of the war from Crockett County.

He was the son of Mrs. Bertha Bedwell of near Friendship.

Aaron Dedmom, owner of Friendship Funeral Home and Private Bedwell's employer before his enlistment in the Marines, Sunday night told of a letter he received last month from Private Bedwell.

"He sent some pictures of where he lived and told about some of the conditions over there. He was really looking forward to coming home. He was a fine young man."

Sammie Lee Bedwell 18 May, 1945 -- 30 Jan 1966, buried in Belle Vernon Cemetery, Friendship, TN, USA [view tombstone]

From the memory book of Mrs. Gladys Hassell, a cousin to Sammy.