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Requiem æternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis.  Fidelium animae per misericordiam Dei requiescant in pace.  Amen. "Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. " "May the souls of the faithful departed through the mercy of God Rest in Peace.  Amen."
Austin Michael Gaughan Private First Class
A CO, 3RD SHORE PARTY, 3RD MARDIV
United States Marine Corps
11 April 1948 - 15 March 1968
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
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3RD MARDIV Purple Heart, National Defense, Vietnam Service, Vietnam Campaign
PERSONAL DATA
Home of Record: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Date of birth:Sunday, 04/11/1948

MILITARY DATA
Service:Marine Corps (Regular)
Grade at loss:E2
Rank: Private First Class
ID No:2347667
MOS:1371 COMBAT ENGINEER
LenSvc: Less than one year
Unit: A CO, 3RD SHORE PARTY, 3RD MARDIV

CASUALTY DATA
Start Tour: Saturday, 01/06/1968
Cas Date: Friday, 03/15/1968
Age at Loss:19
Remains:Body Recovered
Location: Quang Tri, South Vietnam
Type: Hostile, Died Of Wounds
Reason: Artillery, Rocket, Mortar - Ground Casualty
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The photo and following article is taken from The Philadelphia Daily News, special supplement entitled 'SIX HUNDRED AND THIRTY,' October 26, 1987. The special supplement was issued in conjunction with the dedication of the Philadelphia Viet Nam Memorial."Aust" Gaughan wanted to join the Marine Corps right out of West Catholic High School in 1966, but his father persuaded him to think about it for a year. Over the next year, he attended Pierce Junior College, clerked at First Pennsylvania Banking and Trust Co., and made regular Saturday morning visits to a Marine recruiting station. Gaughan remained committed to the Marines, and enlisted in July 1967. He trained as a combat engineer and was sent to Viet Nam in January 1968. "I'll be a Marine if it kills me," he wrote home from the war. Not wanting to alarm his parents, he told them that he liked his duty post with Company A of the 3rd Shore Patrol (sic) Battalion, 3rd Marine Division, at Khe Sanh, Quang Tri Province, and was getting plenty of sleep. After his parents saw a Life magazine article that painted a far grimmer picture of Khe Sanh, Gaughan admitted that life was rough there. The 19-year-old private first class died on March 15, 1968, in the Station Hospital in Da Nang, of wounds sustained in Khe Sanh the previous day. He was survived by his parents."