Mike Company               

Third Battalion, Fifth Marines

RVN, 1966 -1971

William Mortiboy

by John Harris

Whenever I hear the song 'Wedding Bell Blues' - I think of another of our gang that went to bootcamp together, and stayed in touch for a while - albeit sometimes briefly. William (Wild Bill) Mortiboy. I remember the song because he had gotten married when he went home on boot leave, and that's all he'd play at the EM club when he came back. We went through ITR together - he joined Mike. I thought he had been killed when we first landed in Hastings in the hot LZ. I remember a couple of the guys saying he and Childers (Another from Bootcamp) had been dropped by the gooks when we landed. But, when I checked it out on the Wall a couple of years ago - he was listed - but much later then Hastings. Could he have died later of his wounds? Or had he, like so many others, extended - did a second tour - or both? Wonder why? What happened to his wife? He was from Kansas City, KS