This Military Service Page was created/owned by
Daniel L Arnes, CMDCM
to remember
Heard, Perry Maxwell, Sr., PO2.
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Contact Info
Home Town Lanett, AL
Last Address Lisbon, ME
Date of Passing Dec 18, 1997
Location of Interment Maine Veterans Memorial Cemetery - Augusta, Maine
AE2 US NAVY VIETNAM
Perry M. Heard Sr., 63, of Farnsworth Street died Thursday at Central Maine Medical Center, Lewiston. He was a retired Navy aviation electrician's mate, 2nd Class.
He was born in Lanett, Ala., and attended Lanett schools.
Mr. Heard served during the Vietnam War as a helicopter gunner and retired from active duty on Feb. 12, 1975, after serving 21 years. He received four Good Conduct awards, a Naval Achievement Award, two letters of commendation, the Vietnam Service Medal, the Bronze Star, the expert rifleman and pistolman medal, and in 1971, received a letter of commendation from a rear admiral while stationed with the Helicopter Patrol Squadron at San Francisco Naval Air Station.
Mr. Heard moved to this area in 1975. He was employed as a maintenance person for the Brunswick Housing Authority for many years and later for Topsham Fair Mall. In 1975, he attended Sears Electronic & Refrigeration School.
He was a member of the Fleet Reserve and Chuna Vista Fleet Reserve, San Francisco. Mr. Heard enjoyed bowling.
Surviving are three sons, James A. of Bath, Perry M. Jr. and Edward N., both of Brunswick; a daughter, Mrs. Ben (Cassandra C.) Tate of Brunswick; four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
A funeral will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday at Brackett Funeral Home, 29 Federal St., Brunswick, with Navy Chaplain Timothy Lantz officiating. Burial, with full military honors, will be in the spring.
Per Dan Arnes 7/31/2015: Son of Perry Maxwell Heard and Ethel M. Toles. Aviation Electrician's Mate Petty Officer 2nd Class, (AE2) Perry Heard Jr. served with Helicopter Attack (Light) Squadron Three, HA(L)-3 in Vietnam as a helicopter door gunner from 1970-1971. Various records list him as Sr. and Jr. (His father was Perry Maxwell and he has a son Perry M. Jr.)
Description This Campaign period was from 1 May to 30 June 1970. The allied push into Cambodia during the spring of 1970 brought the SEALORDS forces into a unique operational environment. At 0730 local time on 9 May, 10 days after ground troops crossed the border, a combined Vietnamese-American naval task force steamed up the Mekong River to wrest control of that key waterway from North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces.
The flotilla, led by a Vietnamese naval officer, was composed of American PCFs, ASPBs, PBRs, HAL-3 and VAL-4 aircraft, Benewah, Askari, Hunterdon County, YRBM 16, YRBM 21 and 10 strike assault boats (STAB) of Strike Assault Boat Squadron 20, a fast-reaction unit created by Admiral Zumwalt in 1969. The Vietnamese contingent included riverine assault craft of many types, PCFs, PBRs, and marine battalions.
Naval Advisory Group personnel sailed with each Vietnamese vessel. By the end of the first day, Vietnamese naval units reached the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh, while to the south the combined force stormed enemy-held Neak Luong, a strategic ferry crossing point on the river. For political reasons, no U.S. personnel were allowed past Neak Luong, midway to Phnom Penh.
Although the American component pulled out of Cambodia by 29 June, the Vietnamese continued to guard the Mekong and evacuate to South Vietnam over 82,000 ethnic Vietnamese jeopardized by the conflict.