Letter from Mrs. Keck to President Johnson Regarding her Son's Death
5/27/1967
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Mrs. Charles Keck wrote this letter to President Johnson the day she and her husband buried her son, Corporal Russell Forrest Keck. She included a photograph of him.
Corporal Keck died in Vietnam on May 18, 1967. He was 20 years old. “Rusty” served as a Machine Gun Squad Leader with Company A, Battalion Landing Team 1/3, Ninth Marine Amphibious Brigade. He was killed in action during Operation Beau Charger in Quang Tin Province on May 18, 1967. Russell was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross for his "courageous actions, bold initiative, intrepid fighting spirit and sincere concern for others."
President Johnson sent a reply to the Kecks. The draft of his response letter, with its layers of revised and rejected phrases, reveals his struggle to respond.
Corporal Keck died in Vietnam on May 18, 1967. He was 20 years old. “Rusty” served as a Machine Gun Squad Leader with Company A, Battalion Landing Team 1/3, Ninth Marine Amphibious Brigade. He was killed in action during Operation Beau Charger in Quang Tin Province on May 18, 1967. Russell was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross for his "courageous actions, bold initiative, intrepid fighting spirit and sincere concern for others."
President Johnson sent a reply to the Kecks. The draft of his response letter, with its layers of revised and rejected phrases, reveals his struggle to respond.
This primary source comes from the Collection LBJ-WHCF: White House Central Files (Johnson Administration).
Full Citation: Letter from Mrs. Keck to President Johnson Regarding her Son's Death; 5/27/1967; Charles Keck Correspondence; White House Subject Files on National Security and Defense, 11/22/1963 - 1/20/1969; Collection LBJ-WHCF: White House Central Files (Johnson Administration); Lyndon Baines Johnson Library, Austin, TX. [Online Version, https://www.docsteach.org/documents/document/letter-keck-sons-death, May 22, 2025]Activities that use this document
- The Vietnam War Timeline: Understanding the nature of a controversial conflict
Created by the National Archives Education Team
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