John Filpi is our only classmate and one of two Carleton graduates to have been killed in the Vietnam War.
As freshmen, John and I lived near each other on the ground floor of Davis Hall. John is pictured in the 1962 Algol, but he and Terry Sumner, ironically both of whom died young, are reversed in the photo caption. I enjoyed John, but we didn’t interact much after that year. I recall him as a quiet person, who occasionally made surprisingly bold statements. John graduated with a degree in philosophy.
John enlisted in the Marine Corps and in October 1965 went to Quantico, Virginia for Officer Candidate School (earning a commission as a Second Lieutenant in December), followed by The Basic School, from which he graduated in May 1966. John chose to specialize in artillery and trained eight weeks at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. John left for a 13-month tour in Vietnam on September 11.
On January 31, 1967, John was serving as an artillery forward observer in the 13th Marines stationed south of Da Nang in central Vietnam. That morning, John, his radioman, and a squad of Marines were sent in armored vehicles to aid another Marine squad pinned down in a dry rice paddy and taking casualties from heavy small-arms fire. Upon exiting their vehicle, John and his radioman moved to the front and directed artillery fire that allowed the previously trapped squad to withdraw to cover. John was wounded early in the fighting, but as the Marines began to withdraw, John and his radioman – without regard for their personal safety – remained behind to continue to direct artillery fire. The Viet Cong began to focus their fire on John and his radioman, whose position was revealed by their radio antenna. John’s radioman was killed. A Marine ran to John to insist he withdraw. While they moved across the open rice paddy toward the armored vehicles, John was hit again and died. He was 23.
John Taylor Filpi, son of John A. and Eunice L. Filpi and older brother of Robert A. Filpi, is buried in his family’s plot in Memorial Park Cemetery in Skokie, Illinois. He was single. A tree was dedicated in his honor in his hometown of Glenview, Illinois. John’s name appears on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. and on a plaque in Willis Hall on Carleton’s campus.
After his death, John’s mother wrote Carleton about John’s letters home that “…the theme that comes through always is an acceptance and belief in what he was doing.” Also, “We know he had no fear of death.” While in Vietnam, John had studied Camus, French grammar, and Toynbee’s 12-volume A Study of History. He had considered extending his tour in order to continue helping the Vietnamese people and also had contemplated law school or graduate school in philosophy after his military service, with the possibility of teaching at a small liberal arts college.
The 1965 Algol has John’s senior photograph on the Philosophy Department’s lead page. The heading for that page asks Why, Oh Why…?
Additional information on John’s military service is in Carleton’s Archives and in a memorial written by Dave Mellon, who was in the same platoon as John during Officer Candidate School: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=122325298.
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John Filpi is our only classmate and one of two Carleton graduates to have been killed in the Vietnam War.
As freshmen, John and I lived near each other on the ground floor of Davis Hall. John is pictured in the 1962 Algol, but he and Terry Sumner, ironically both of whom died young, are reversed in the photo caption. I enjoyed John, but we didn't interact much after that year. I recall him as a quiet person, who occasionally made surprisingly bold statements. John graduated with a degree in philosophy.
John enlisted in the Marine Corps and in October 1965 went to Quantico, Virginia for Officer Candidate School (earning a commission as a Second Lieutenant in December), followed by The Basic School, from which he graduated in May 1966. John chose to specialize in artillery and trained eight weeks at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. John left for a 13-month tour in Vietnam on September 11.
On January 31, 1967, John was serving as an artillery forward observer in the 13th Marines stationed south of Da Nang in central Vietnam. That morning, John, his radioman, and a squad of Marines were sent in armored vehicles to aid another Marine squad pinned down in a dry rice paddy and taking casualties from heavy small-arms fire. Upon exiting their vehicle, John and his radioman moved to the front and directed artillery fire that allowed the previously trapped squad to withdraw to cover. John was wounded early in the fighting, but as the Marines began to withdraw, John and his radioman – without regard for their personal safety – remained behind to continue to direct artillery fire. The Viet Cong began to focus their fire on John and his radioman, whose position was revealed by their radio antenna. John's radioman was killed. A Marine ran to John to insist he withdraw. While they moved across the open rice paddy toward the armored vehicles, John was hit again and died. He was 23.
John Taylor Filpi, son of John A. and Eunice L. Filpi and older brother of Robert A. Filpi, is buried in his family's plot in Memorial Park Cemetery in Skokie, Illinois. He was single. A tree was dedicated in his honor in his hometown of Glenview, Illinois. John's name appears on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. and on a plaque in Willis Hall on Carleton's campus.
After his death, John's mother wrote Carleton about John's letters home that "…the theme that comes through always is an acceptance and belief in what he was doing." Also, "We know he had no fear of death." While in Vietnam, John had studied Camus, French grammar, and Toynbee's 12-volume A Study of History. He had considered extending his tour in order to continue helping the Vietnamese people and also had contemplated law school or graduate school in philosophy after his military service, with the possibility of teaching at a small liberal arts college.
The 1965 Algol has John's senior photograph on the Philosophy Department's lead page. The heading for that page asks Why, Oh Why…?
Additional information on John's military service is in Carleton's Archives and in a memorial written by Dave Mellon, who was in the same platoon as John during Officer Candidate School: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=122325298.