Post Messenger Recorder -

Most of the Never Let Us Forget – Freedom is NOT Free articles (which have been published in the Mount Horeb Mail) have focused on people from Mount Horeb. This story, however, is about a young man, Terrance Lee "Mike" Drea, from Cazenovia, Wisconsin, a rural farming community northwest of Mount Horeb. I was at a Belleville American Legion Post Meeting when I learned that a family who lives outside of Belleville had lost a brother in Vietnam. I asked the Legion Adjutant, Wendell, if he would ask Colleen Drea Fahey if it was ok if I wrote a story about her brother.

Colleen and her sister and brother-in-law, Pat and Dan Cady, sat down with us as well. I am so grateful that the three of them sat down to tell me more about Mike. Sometimes we think about all the individuals we've lost in battles around the world and the numbers can be overwhelming. The important thing to remember is that these young men and women killed in action are brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, neighbors and friends. They are not just numbers. They're people who never had a chance to grow old, get married, or have children of their own. Their families never had an opportunity to have them at the supper table one last time or to laugh and joke.

This story is about tragic loss, love, guilt, respect, honor, remembrance, hurt that is never completely healed, brothers in arms, and a young farm boy named Mike whose impact has been felt across the Nation.

Terrance Lee 'Mike' Drea was born 18 July 1949, to Francis and Marie Helen Rego. When he was born his mom named him Terrance Lee Drea. When his dad arrived at the hospital, however, he said he didn't want to name him Terrance Lee, he wanted to name him Mike. From that time until he entered the military, he was known as Mike.

The Drea family, like most rural families in Wisconsin, worked hard and were very close. They lived on a farm outside of Cazenovia. Mike's dad, Francis, worked off the farm and mom, Marie, was always busy with ten children. Mike was the sixth child, he was shy and innocent. The first four children were boys, Jack, Tom, Jim and Bill, followed by a girl, Pat, then Mike, and then four more, Colleen and her twin sister, Carol, Mary and her twin Martin, who died at infancy.

Mike's upbringing was not much different than other farm kids. Mike attended Weston High School. He was surrounded by friends, played high school football, wrestled, and worked as hard as anyone on the farm. Mike loved talking and listening to baseball and football. He cheered for the Packers and the Milwaukee Braves. Listening to their games brought him so much joy. His dad, Francis, used to give him a hard time about how old Warren Spahn was and how he should not be playing baseball anymore. Mike had a loving family, friends, teammates, classmates, and farm animals to care for. Mike had so much love for family, friends, and life.

Many times Mike would end up milking on the home farm because their older brother Bill was milking on the farm down the road. Mike told Pat that she was not useful when it came to helping in the barn because she was afraid of the animals.

When Mike left for the military, he and his parents expected that when he returned, he would run the farm.

Mike went to Basic Training, came home on leave, and then he was off to Fort Lewis, Washington, before he went off to Vietnam. Mike was assigned to Charlie Company, 4th Battalion, 12th Infantry Battalion of the 199th Light Infantry Brigade.

Mike's unit was assigned to LZ Nancy, near Long Khanh Province. Mike was the Assistant Gunner for John Willems, who was the M60 Machine Gunner. John had been in Vietnam for three months when Mike arrived. John was from Green Bay, and Mike was very excited to write home to tell his family that he knew someone who could get them Packers tickets. After a few months, Chester Thompson was assigned as the Ammo Bearer for their three-man team. The bonds form quickly when you rely on someone else for survival, so the three of them became very close. The unit had been fighting in the jungle against the NVA when Mike came down with malaria, possibly for the second time since arriving in country.

Mike was so sick he had to be hospitalized. When Mike recovered, the Commander reassigned him to the mortar platoon to keep him from getting malaria again and in hopes of keeping him safe. Shortly thereafter, on the 21st of January 1970, Mike and the mortar platoon were unloading ammunition that had been outside the wire overnight when one of the rounds exploded as Mike picked. The explosion killed Mike and the thirteen soldiers around him, twelve from his platoon and one from another unit.

The first person on the scene, another member of the mortar platoon (Jan Scruggs), ran toward the sound of the explosion to save anyone who could be saved. Unfortunately, none of the people near the explosion survived and Jan, along with others, began picking up the bodies and body parts. The explosion killed Mike Drea, Thomas Gaither, Pedro Gonzalez, Claud Davis, John Kroeger, Kenneth Kroehler, Larry Murray, Floyd McCreery, Robert Ruggles, Kerry Taylor, John Pies, Roger Key, and Jerome Sain.

A few days later, on the other side of the world, an officer was assigned to notify the family. This is one of the worst assignments in the military. The officer drove to Cazenovia and stopped at the post office to get directions to the Drea farm. When he arrived at the farm the only one there was Mike's mom, Marie. She was sewing at the big bay window and could see that a military sedan pulled in the driveway. When the knock on the door came she knew why the officer was at their door, so she refused to answer it. After a while the officer knocked and let himself in to tell her that he was sorry, but he had to notify her of the death of her son, Terrance Lee Drea. The rest of the family was scattered, the children that were younger than Mike were in school and the older children who were out of the house were working elsewhere. The younger children were called to the office so that they could go home and the family could be together when they told them.

Pat described being told right around lunchtime at the Badger Ammunition Plant. One of her coworkers came to get her to let her know that her husband, Dan, was there. She said that as soon as her coworker said Dan was there, she knew something bad happened to Mike. She said none of her coworkers would look at her as she made her way to the entrance of the building to talk to Dan. Pat later found out that two years earlier her coworkers had also been concerned that something might happen to her husband Dan in the year that he was in Vietnam.

Notifications and the heartbreaking news for families played out thirteen times around the United States for this one explosion. Don't let the numbers remain abstract, humanize each of the lives lost. These men and women had mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, and some had wives and children back home who would never see their loved one again.

Mike's body was brought home and the family held a funeral at Saint Anthony's in Cazenovia.

Pat mentioned that she did not want to accept Mike's death. She said that for months after the funeral she continued to believe in her mind that Mike would walk through the door at any time.

Mike and his unit members have had a lasting impact on millions of people, they just might not know it. I mentioned that Jan Scruggs was the first on the scene when the explosion happened. Years later he had another restless night and while up he thought to himself "that's it we have to remember their names." He told his wife about it the next morning and for the next several years Jan and a team of dedicated individuals came together to form the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund which would later build the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. They fought to get approval from Congress. They fought to create a Memorial that would satisfy Vietnam Veterans as well as antiwar protesters. They fought to raise enough money to build the Memorial to honor the more than 58,000 Vietnam Veterans Killed In Action in Vietnam, as well as the over two million Service Members who served in Vietnam. They fought to ensure the project did not get shut down when people did not like the design that was selected. They fought to have a dedication. They fought to Welcome Home the Vietnam Veterans who had not received a welcome when they came home.

When you look at the Vietnam Memorial and you see the beauty and the overwhelming list of names of the Marines, Soldiers, Airman, Sailors, and Coast Guard Members who died serving in Vietnam, please remember that each of them has a face to go with that name. Remember that Mike Drea, a small town, farm boy from rural Cazenovia, Wisconsin, and the twelve others that died with him inspired the vision for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Remember that each of them had fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, and some had wives and children.

Mike's mother, Marie, received a clipping from the newspaper in Chicago that talked about four midwestern boys killed in Vietnam in an explosion. She wrote letters to each of the families.

In 2006, there was a note left on Mike's headstone. The cemetery caretaker contacted the family. As the family read the note, they found out that Chester Thompson had visited and wanted to meet the family of his friend, who he knew as Drea, whose death, as well as the death of their Machine Gun mate Willems, had a huge impact on Chester's life. Meeting Chester was so good for the family because they were able to talk to someone who was with Mike in Vietnam. They were able to listen to and share stories.

In 2013, another family who had dealt with the loss of a brother from the same explosion was searching for the owner of a class ring that ended up with the effects that the Army sent to them. Joe Sain reached out to figure out who in the explosion had the initials MD, which were engraved inside the ring. The ring was from Weston High School and he researched all the men that had been killed and several Weston High Schools. When he reached out to the Weston High School in Wisconsin, they said yes there was a young man who had graduated from Weston High School who had been killed in the explosion, Terrance Lee "Mike" Drea (MD). Joe travelled to Wisconsin to return the class ring to Mike's brother, Bill. Later, after continuing to correspond, the Sain family and the Dreas got together and shared stories of their loved ones and of their loss and heartache. Over time the Dreas were able to meet the other families as well, and the ability to meet and talk with others that had gone through horrific loss, heartache, pain and suffering, was very helpful. Unfortunately, Mike's mother Marie had passed before she had a chance to connect with all these other families and with Chester.

Mike's family members have had opportunities to travel to the Vietnam Memorial and to be there for ceremonies at Arlington where there is a tribute to the 199th Light Infantry Brigade and all the men who served in the unit.

Jack Wheeler on Veterans Day 1983 said "Who among us was not touched or even wounded, in some way by the Vietnam War? The walls shine like mirrors. So we begin to see hurts inside us too, when we see our own reflections in the walls. We were young. We have died. Remember us.

We have done what we could but until it is finished no one can know what our lives gave.

Our deaths are not ours; they are yours; they will mean what you make them.

Whether our lives and our deaths were for peace and a new hope or for nothing we cannot say; it is you who must say this.

We leave you our deaths. Give them meaning.

We were young....We have died. Remember us."

The most important thing that we can do is tell these stories so that people understand the sacrifices people have made for the freedom of our Great Nation. We will never be able to repay the men and women that gave their lives so that we could enjoy the freedoms we enjoy today so let us remembers that Freedom is NOT Free.

Let us Never Forget that Freedom is NOT Free

This is the twenty-eighth in a series of articles that we hope to publish for years to come. With this series we want to honor Service Members that served our great Nation. We need your help to honor these fine Americans. If you have someone you would like us to include, please help us research and develop articles. Our email address is mhamlegionpost113@gmail.com.