Vietnam Veterans Dog Tag returned to his Nephew in New Mexico
Brandon Washburn now has a piece of his Uncle Rocky’s past. The dog tag he wore in Vietnam.
Rocky L Washburn was born on November 13, 1947. He served in Vietnam – he was 1Lt in the US Army.
Sadly, he passed away at the age of 35 – on March 23, 1982. He is buried in the Santa Fe National Cemetery in New Mexico.
His dog tag made it back to the United States in 1993 with a Vietnam USMC veteran and retired police chief. He was in Vietnam with a group called Operation Smile. He was there as logistics support coordinator for the project’s medical program. In the small shops lining the street outside his hotel, he saw that vendors were selling American dog tags as souvenirs. He bought 350 of them and in 2009 he gave them to the POW/MIA Awareness Committee of New Jersey to locate and return the dog tags to the veterans.
“After locating Washburn’s nephew, his dog tag was given to Fred “Ironhead” Gerdes, of the Nam Knights of America MC (Delaware Valley Chapter) to hand deliver them in New Mexico,” Sue Quinn-Morris, Director of Research for the POW/MIA Awareness Commitee of NJ, stated.” Fred was relocating from NJ to NM – just miles from where Washburn’s family resides.”
On, September 27, 2013, in a private and emotional meeting, in Bernillo,NM, Fred “Ironhead” presented Rocky’s dog tag to his nephew, Brandon Washburn.