Joe Herring Jr.: Manuel Reyes Denton: Kerrville sailor killed in Vietnam whose body was not found for 45 years

Manuel Reyes Denton, Tivy Graduate,
who was killed in Vietnam in October, 1963.

Over the past several weeks, I have been working on a project separate from this column, where I’m trying to learn more about the Kerr County men who have given their lives for our country since World War I. Their names are carved into the Kerr County War Memorial, and also on the wall above the staircase at the Cailloux Theater.

I’ve learned some things.

First, almost all of the men were young. Very young. Which makes their sacrifice even more mournful.

Each loss remembered on the memorials is a tragedy. Each was a son. Many were husbands and fathers. All were gone so soon.

I’ve learned some stories I’d never knew before.

Manuel Reyes Denton’s name is carved on the memorials. He died in Vietnam.

Denton was born in San Antonio on June 18, 1941. He lived in Seguin, with his grandparents, for many years, and moved to Kerrville, where he graduated from Tivy High School. While at Tivy, he met his future wife, Esmeralda Sanchez Denton.

Denton enlisted in the U. S. Navy. He was a graduate of the Field Medical Service School, where he trained to be a combat medic. He was assigned to Fleet Marine Force Pacific, 1st Marine Air Wing, Marine Air Base Squadron 16, HMM-361, a Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron, known as the ‘Flying Tigers.’ He was based in San Diego.

In Vietnam, the squadron flew dangerous missions, often in UH-34D Choctaw helicopters, and often in combat conditions.

In October, 1963, Denton was part of a six-man crew aboard a Choctaw, flying 43 miles west of the city of Danang in Quang Nam Province, part of a search-and-rescue mission for two downed pilots.

But they never made it to the downed pilots. The helicopter was hit by enemy fire and crashed.

Of the six men onboard, only the remains of four men were found and identified. Denton’s body, and the body of Lance Corporal Luther E. Ritchey Jr. could not be found.

Remember, this happened in October, 1963. President Kennedy was still alive, though only a little over a month from traveling to Dallas.

Denton died very early in the Vietnam War. His body was lost.

In 2001, human remains were found at the crash site; in 2002, the site was excavated, and additional remains were found.

It wasn’t until 2008 – 45 years after the crash – that Denton’s family finally got official word from the U. S. Department of Defense, confirming Denton’s remains had been found.

Denton was buried, along with other members of the helicopter crew, at Arlington National Cemetery in 2008.

Those four-and-a-half decades, where the family waited for final news of their missing loved one, would have been almost unbearable. Denton left behind his wife, and three young daughters.

Denton made the ultimate sacrifice for his country, but his family also sacrificed.

That’s one of the things I’ve learned during this project. Yes, the memorial honors Kerr County heroes. But there are hundreds of family members and loved ones who also made huge sacrifices for our country. Their names are not listed on any memorial, and by now, many of those connections are no longer clear.

They deserve our honor and remembrance, too.

Until next week, all the best.

Joe Herring Jr. is a Kerrville native who was a child in the 1960s, but still remembers the Vietnam War and knew families who lost loved ones there. This story originally appeared in the Kerrville Daily Times January 20, 2024.

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