This Military Service Page was created/owned by
Cpl David R. Evans (D.R.)
to remember
Marine 2ndLt Stephen Thomas Hepner.
If you knew or served with this Marine and have additional information or photos to support this Page, please leave a message for the Page Administrator(s) HERE.
Casualty Info
Home Town Glendale
Last Address Glendale
Casualty Date Apr 30, 1967
Cause KIA-Killed in Action
Reason Gun, Small Arms Fire
Location Quang Tri (Vietnam)
Conflict Vietnam War
Location of Interment Saint Mary's Cemetery - Delaware, Ohio
HILL 881 SOUTH, 8 KM WEST-NORTHWEST OF KHE SANH AIR FIELD 30APR1967
KIA 30Apr, rcvrd 02May
The 3rd Battalion, 9th Marines, had been in and out of Khe Sanh area several times during the spring of 1967, participating in the famous "Hill Fights" in the mountains surrounding Khe Sanh Combat Base. They were "in" during the latter part of April, and on 30 April lost 17 men in a bitter engagement with the North Vietnamese Army on the jungled slopes of Hill 881 South. 3rd Bn, 3rd Marines lost 27 more in the battle. Two days later 3/9 had another loss - 2ndLt Stephen Hepner was shot and killed while leading his platoon in the area of the 30 April fight. The 3/9 Marines were withdrawn from Khe Sanh shortly thereafter and became one of the forces used in Operation Hickory, the first US incursion into the Demilitarized Zone itself.
