James Robert Nash was born on December 8, 1946, to Army Capt. John and Dorothy Nash. His home of record is Brick, NJ. James graduated from Brick Township High School in 1965.
He enlisted in the US Marine Corps in September 1965 and attained the rank of Private First Class (PFC). Nash was assigned to Third Battalion, Fifth Marines, Lima Company.
Nash was killed in action in Vietnam on July 24, 1966, in Quang Tri, South Vietnam. He was 19 and died as the result of small arms fire.
Nash had full military rites at his funeral with a Marine Corps honor guard. Township officials served as honorary pallbearers. Also in the procession were representatives of the local VFW post and police and fire company members. Following a Saturday morning mass at the Church of the Visitation in Brick, burial was in St. Catharine’s Cemetery in Wall, NJ, on August 13, 1966. His parents later presented an American Flag to Brick High School in memory of their son.
In a letter to his parents, written the month before his death, he wrote:
A lot of people in the States do not understand what the war over here is about and some don’t even care. Well to us over here it means a lot. We’re not fighting to prove the Marines are tough, we’re fighting Communist aggression, which threatens the United States right now. We will be here until the threat is wiped out, so if anyone ever says Americans here are dying for a senseless cause do me a favor and set them straight.
Sources: Anne M. Cullen (volunteer) and NJVVMF.
12/17/2024
