MUSCH, David Ira 1946-1966

MUSCH, SCHOONOVER, LANIGAN, LEHMAN

Posted By: S. Bell
Date: 10/15/2012 at 01:47:39

[Waterloo Daily Courier, Thursday, October 06, 1966, Waterloo, Iowa]

PFC DAVID I. MUSCH

Funeral services will be at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Calvary E.U.B. Church for PFC David I. Musch, 20, of 69 Lafayette St. who was killed last Friday in Viet Nam. Friends may call at Kearns-Dykeman Chapel after 10 a.m. Friday. Those who wish may contribute to a memorial fund to be established in his name at the church.

He was born in Waterloo on Sept. 17, 1946, the son of Clifford and Bernadine. Schoonover Musch. He was graduated from East Waterloo High School in 1965. He enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps on Nov. 30, 1965, serving his boot training at Camp Pendleton, Calif, and then was assigned to "L" Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Division at Da Nang, Viet Nam on May 28, 1966.

He married Barbara Lanigan on May 23, 1966, in Waterloo. David was a member of Calvary E.U.B. Church. He was active in the Boy Scouts of America and was awarded the highest honor in Scouting, that of Eagle Scout in 1964; and the highest church award in Scouting, the God and Country Award. He also was a member of the Order of the Arrow. He was awarded the Expert Rifleman's Badge in the Marines.

He is survived by his widow, his father of 2021 Fairview, one step-brother, Daniel, 2021 Fairview Ave.; two sisters, Pamela and Rena, and two step-sisters, Julie and Lori also at 2021 Fairview. Also surviving are his maternal grandmother, Mrs. Lottie Schoonover of 312½ Thompson, and the paternal grandmother, Mrs. Mildred Musch of Dunkerton.

He was preceded in death by his mother on July 30, 1965.

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Earlier article about David's death -

[Waterloo Daily Courier, Monday, October 03, 1966, Waterloo, Iowa]

Marine Dies
In Viet Nam
Sniper Kills Pfc. Musch

Marine Pfc. David I. Musch will never see his unborn child. A shot from a Viet Cong sniper's rifle ended that dream.

A 1965 graduate of East High School, Pfc. Musch enlisted in November of 1965. He was in a hurry to put his military service behind him so he could marry his high school sweetheart, continue his job as a machinist at the Chamberlain Corp. and rear a family.

But after boot camp, David Musch, 19, and his girl, Barbara Lanigan, 17, while he was on leave, could wait no longer. Last May 23, they married. Five days later, Pfc Musch shipped out for Viet Nam.

In letters to his wife and family Musch related the hardships of jungle warfare, expressed joy that he would soon be a father, and tired of C rations, asked for food from home. He even joked about his inability to obtain life insurance because of being in a combat zone. He was attached to the second platoon of Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Division and Pfc. Musch — who won the coveted marine expert rifleman's badge — was chosen point man for his platoon.

Last Message -

On September On September 23, two weeks after his 20th birthday and a week before he was cut down by sniper's fire, Pfc. Musch wrote Barbara:

"We are at regiment now and within the next seven days expect the VC (Viet Cong) to over-run us. We've been moved up as reinforcements."

A week later he was dead of a gunshot wound while his outfit was trying to plug a gap in the Ho Chi Mihn Trail and where North Vietnamese regulars were pouring into the south.

Saturday night, the family was visited by a reserve Marine Major and Sergeant Major with word that Pfc. Musch was killed in action the night of September 30.

Read the telegram:
I deeply regret to inform you that your husband, Pfc, David I. Musch, U.S.M.C., died Sept. 30 in the vicinity of Da Nang, Republic of Viet Nam, when he sustained a gunshot wound to his head as a result of sniper fire while on patrol."

On receiving word of her husband's death, Barbara, who expects to bear Musch's child in February, collapsed and was rushed to Schoitz Memorial Hospital in a state of shock. Monday she remained at her parent's home, 69 Lafayette Street, under heavy sedation.

Described by relatives as a "very hard worker", Musch indeed worked hard at his studies at East High School, saw Barbara daily, and planned after graduation to marry.

Each day the two would meet at a nearby teenage gathering place, over milk shakes and chat with friends before David rushed home to change clothes and hurry to the Chamberlain Corp. for the night shift where he was a machinist.

An adept carpenter, he hoped to build his own home after graduation and rear his family.

But the shadow of the draft hung over the couple. Then David decided to enlist and the
two-year hitch offered by the marines promised the shortest tour of duty.

At first, Barbara and David felt it best to let marriage wait until his discharge in November, 1967. But after boot camp, infantry training at Camp Pendleton, California, and a leave in Waterloo they changed their minds.

The prospect of duty in Viet Nam outweighed prudence.

Their's was a short honeymoon, but the two promised to make up for it when David returned from overseas next summer. That promise will never be fulfilled. Barbara plans to return to East High School in February where she is a junior while relatives care for the expected child.

Musch will be buried here with full military honors when his body is returned to Waterloo within the next 10 days. Funeral arrangements are under the direction of the Kearns-Dykeman Funeral Home.

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Waterloo Courier article Jan, 16, 1975, featured East High School being presented with a carpentry workbench in David Musch's memory by his 7 year old daughter (turns 8 yr next week), Marlene, and her mother now Mrs. Barbara Lehman.

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