Donald B. Saunders was born on February 17, 1948, to Maisie and William Saunders. His home of record is Belleville, NJ. He had one brother, Kenneth, and one sister, Kathleen. Donald attended Belleville High School. He was a member of the cross-country team that won the Big Ten Conference Championship in 1965. He was also a member of Little Zion U AME Church in Belleville.

Donald enlisted in the US Marine Corps in September 28, 1966. Saunders completed his basic training at Parris Island, SC, and advanced infantry training at Camp Lejeune, NC. He volunteered for duty in Vietnam and attained the rank of Private First Class (PFC). He was assigned to 1st Battalion, 13th Marines as a machine gunner.

Saunders was killed in action on March 4, 1968, during an enemy mortar fire in Quang Tri. He is buried at Glendale Cemetery in Bloomfield, NJ.

Donald wrote to his parents from Vietnam. In one letter, Donald did mention that he did not know whether it was the last letter, or not, but that they were surrounded by the enemy. The difficulties of the people of Vietnam particularly affected him and he wrote home about the villagers who had to scramble for food and were so starved that they were eating garbage. He sometimes wrote that he gave candy and food to the Vietnamese children. The only thing he really asked for was tee shirts. It seems that you could not purchase them over there because of the climate.

Donald did manage to telephone home just two weeks before he was killed to talk to his parents.

Sources: Anthony Buccino (author of Belleville Sons Honor Roll) findagrave.com and NJVVMF.
12/17/2024