Faces Bio

Frank W. Humes was born on December 5, 1948, to Else and William R. Humes, Jr. His home of record is Magnolia, NJ. Frank was the oldest of 4 children. He had three brothers, William, Gary and John. Frank attended Sterling High School.

In November 1968, Humes was drafted into the US Army. He was sent to Ft Dix, NJ, for Basic Training and then to Ft. Polk, LA, for Advanced Infantry Training and Jungle School. Upon graduation, he was shipped to Vietnam and was assigned to the 4th Infantry Division. He attained the rank of Corporal (CPL).

Humes married his sweetheart, Linda, while awaiting orders to Vietnam. The couple moved to Lindenwold, NJ, and had only been married nine months when Frank received the news that he would be sent to Vietnam. .

After several months as a "grunt", he was accepted to the newly formed 4th Infantry LRRP (Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol), 75th Rangers, K Company. Upon graduation from his Ranger School in the Republic of Vietnam, he was sent to sniper school. Humes was then assigned to a three-man Ranger team.

On July 8, 1969, Humes went out on a three-man LRRP mission in the Northern Highlands of Vietnam. The team was inserted into the jungle by Huey chopper via rope ladders. Inadvertently they were inserted into an area where there was a battalion of North Vietnamese soldiers on patrol and they immediately came under intense small arms fire. Extraction and reinforcements were requested, and during that period my brother was shot in the head. Upon extraction, he was transported to an Army field hospital where he died several hours later. The details of this mission were recounted by one of the men on the Ranger team, Larry Flanigan.

Humes is buried in Lawncrest Cemetery in Cherry Hill, NJ.

He received numerous awards and decorations including the Silver Star, two Bronze Star Medals, and two Purple Hearts.

Sources: William Humes (brother) and NJVVMF.