The Text of the plaque reads:
In Memory of
Private First Class
Jerry Wayne Gentry
United States Army
Killed in action – 9 November 1967 – Republic of Vietnam
PFC Gentry was a crew member of a M113 Armored Personnel Carrier assigned to B Troop, 1st Squardon 1st
Cavalry. Of the American Divison in the Republic of Vietnam. While engaged in a assault west of the
City of Que Son, his APC was disabled by enemy fire, injuring four of the crew. As the only
uninjured member of the crew, PFC Gentry, in the face of enemy automatic weapons fire and with
complete disregard for his own safety, aided those of the crew who were lightly wounded to the relative safety
of a nearby embankment. Returning in the face of intense enemy fire, he helped the forth seriously
wounded soldier to another APC for evacuation. Having assures the safety of his crewmates, PFC Gentry
was mortally wounded as he attempted to mount a third vehicle and return fire.
As a result of his intrepid gallantry and unselfish devotion to duty, the lives of four of his fellow soldiers were
saved. PFC Genry was posthumously awarded The Silver Star for his actions. He was also awarded The
Purple Heart, Good Conduct Medal and Vietnam Service Medal.
PFC Jerry Wayne Gentry was born on 4 June 1947 in Cartersville, Georgia.
He attended Cassville High School.
their country.
www.avvba.org
A newspaper article wrote this:
Jerry Wayne Gentry honored with memorial in Cartersville
Rebecca Long
Staff Writer
Published May 24, 2007 11:23 PM CDT
Hero was a word that people who attended a memorial dedication ceremony Thursday for U.S. Army Pfc. Jerry Wayne Gentry heard quite often to describe the fourth of the 15 Bartow County residents to be killed in action during the Vietnam War.
The crowd of veterans, family members, friends, classmates and elected officials sat in the warm May sun to hear the stories of those who served with Gentry, who was killed in action Nov. 9, 1967. Gentry is the 21st Georgia veteran to be recognized by the Atlanta Vietnam Veterans Business Association, which honors one of the Atlanta area’s 418 veterans killed in action in Vietnam. The event featured personal accounts of those who served with Gentry and a dedication of a new memorial in his honor.
“Over 58,200 men and women were killed, but today’s ceremony is about one man — Jerry Wayne Gentry,” said Bryan Tate, chairman of the AVVBA. “Yes, it happened 40 years ago, but it is still fitting.”
Gentry was described by many as a quiet man and a good friend to all.
Johnny Roberson, a Bartow County resident and Vietnam veteran, said Gentry was “just like the man in the photograph. No matter what was asked of him, he just smiled.”
That is how many of those gathered remembered the 1965 Cassville High School graduate, who seemed to have an abundance of friends and supporters. As members of the Albany Marine Band played patriotic selections, the old friends greeted each other on the plaza steps, remembering with laughter and tears the days they had shared with him.
“He was hard to get to talk,” said one classmate who had sat behind him in an English class. “But once you did, you were in for a treat. He saw everything and knew everything. He could tell the best stories.”
Around 40 members of Gentry’s graduating class attended the event, wearing blue and gold ribbons. Many of the members of the class said class members were still extremely close, having lost more than one member to the war. The class, according to one of the women there, was and still is proud of all their war heroes.