“Name that Year” is designed to put your knowledge of Tracy and its newsmakers of the past to the test. Each week, we will publish a news item that ran in a past edition — maybe it was a major event, or a story about a Tracy resident — it’s up to you to determine in what year that particular news item hit the pages of the paper:
• THE TRAGIC NEWS OF TRACY’S THIRD SERVICEMAN KILLED IN THE 10-YEAR-OLD VIETNAM CONFLICT saddened this community when official, personal notification of the casualty was received here by the parents Wednesday of last week.
Killed in action two days after Christmas, Dec. 27, was First Class Warrant Officer Raymond R. Cooreman, 21, son of Mr. and Mrs. Joe Cooreman of rural Tracy.
He was a pilot of a “Huey” helicopter gunship, serving with the l0lst Airborne Division based at Phu Bia near the demilitarized North - South Vietnam zone.
Personal notification of his death was made to the parents about 6 p,m, Wednesday by Capt. Norman A, Dobbs with the ROTC military detachment at the University of South Dakota, Brookings, Later, a telegram reaffirming the sad news was received from Maj. Gen. Kenneth G. Wickham, Adjutant General’s Department of the Army, Washington. The telegram, in part, stated: “The secretary of the Army has asked me to express his deep regret that your son. Warrent Officer Raymond R, Cooreman, was killed in action in Vietnam on Dec. 27.
“He was at base camp (Phu Bia, north of Da Nang) when the area came under rocket attack by a hostile force. Please, accept my deepest sympathy. This confirms personal notification by a representative of the Army.”
A subsequent telegram from Army headquarters in Washington stated: “The body will be returned to a U.S. port by first available military airlift, and that a military escort with accompany the body home.”
• Last week’s answer: A 1915 switch engine and tender car, purchased by the Wheels Across the Prairie Museum, was expected to be moved in 1990 to the museum, which purchased the authentic, 62-foot long train for $30,000.
